505 


IRLF 


GIFT   OF 


DUCK 


Wlfflrw 


JAMES  RANKIN 


AND 


ARTIFICIAL 


DUCK  CULTURE 


JAMES   RANKIN 


Price  50  Cents. 


FIFTH  EDITION,  REVISED  AND  ENLARGED 


SOUTH   EASTON,  MASS. 
1906 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1906,  by 

JAMES   RANKIN, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED. 


DESIGNED  AND  COMPILED  KY 

H.  A.  SUMMERS 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


305200 


INTRODUCTION. 


©UR  original  motive  in  publishing  this  little 
book,  was  one  of  self-defense,  to  relieve  our- 
selves, in  a  measure,  of  a  correspondence 
which  was  becoming  much  too  large  for 
the  time  at  our  disposal.  After  reading  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  letters  per  day,  from  people,  asking  all  manner 
of  questions  concerning  the  hatching,  growing  and 
marketing  of  ducks,  in  detail,  there  were  not  hours 
enough  in  the  twenty-four  to  answer  them.  This  book 
was  published  to  send  out  with  our  machines  to  meet 
these  queries  and  give  our  patrons  our  method  of  grow- 
ing, supposing  it  would  cover  all  the  points  in  duck- 
culture,  but  it  does  not  as  yet  answer  the  ends.  The 
questions  still  come  in  far  beyond  our  ability  to  answer, 
and  as  our  fourth  edition  is  about  exhausted,  we  now 
publish  a  fifth,  revised,  enlarged  and  illustrated ;  also 
adding  a  Question  Bureau,  which  will  answer  many  of 
the  questions  which  have  reached  us  during  the  past 
few  years  concerning  the  growing,  as  well  as  the  diseases 
to  which  the  Pekin  duck  is  subject.  Though  we  have 
been  in  this  business  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  have 
been  eminently  successful,  we  do  not  claim  to  know  all 
about  it ;  but  by  persistent  effort,  careful  selection  and 
breeding,  have  succeeded  in  developing  a  mammoth 
strain  of  Pekin  ducks,  which,  for  symmetry,  precocity 
and  fecundity  (experts  who  have  visited  our  place  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  tell  us),  stand  unrivalled  on  this 
continent. 

Many  of  our  customers  write  us  that  their  birds 
average  from  150  to  165  eggs  per  season.  We  would 
say  that  there  is  no  domestic  bird  under  so  per- 
fect control,  so  free  from  diseases  of  all  kinds,  or  from 
insect  parasites  as  the  Pekin  duck.  From  the  time  the 
little  bird  is  hatched  until  it  is  full  grown  and  ready  to 

4 


reproduce  its  own  species,  it  is  under  the  perfect  con- 
trol of  the  intelligent  operator,  who  can  produce  feathers, 
fiesh  or  bone  at  will,  and  even  mature  the  bird  and  com- 
pel it  to  lay  at  four-and-a-half  months  old.  There  is  no 
bird  in  existence  that  will  respond  to  kind  treatment, 
generous  care  and  feed  as  the  Pekin  duck.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  no  bird  more  susceptible  to  improper 
feed  or  neglect,  and  a  sad  mortality  is  sure  to  follow 
among  the  little  ones,  where  proper  food  and  system 
are  wanting.  It  may  surprise  some  one  to  know  that  the 
predisposition  to  disease  may  exist  in  the  egg  from  which 
the  little  bird  is  hatched,  or  even  in  the  condition  of  the 
parent  bird  which  produces  the  egg.  Strong  physique 
in  animal  life,  as  in  man,  are  like  exotics,  requiring  the 
most  assiduous  care  and  cultivation,  and  are  the  most 
difficult  to  transmit. 

Defects,  like  weeds,  seem  indigenous  to  the 
soil  and  will  reproduce  with  unerring  regularity,  and 
will  often  crop  out  in  all  directions,  generations  after 
you  think  you  have  wiped  it  all  out.  So  it  is  one  thing 
to  produce  an  egg  from  good,  strong,  vigorous  stock 
during  the  winter  in  inclement  weather,  when  all  na- 
ture is  against  you,  and  so  poorly  fertilized  that  if  it 
hatches  at  all,  will  hatch  a  chick  so  enfeebled  in  construc- 
tion that  no  amount  of  petting  or  coaxing  can  induce  it 
to  live,  but  quite  another  to  produce  an  egg  so  highly 
vitalized,  that  it  will  be  sure  to  hatch  a  healthy  young 
bird,  bound  to  live  under  all  circumstances.  But 
this  is  not  all  the  danger.  The  operator,  though 
he  may  have  good  eggs,  may  be  neglectful  or 
ignorant,  and  the  health  of  the  young  birds  seriously 
injured  during  the  hours  of  incubation ;  or  he  may  have  a 
defective  machine  which  under  no  condition  can  turn 
out  healthy  birds.  With  healthy,  vigorous  parent  stock, 
judicious  care  and  food,  there  is  no  reason  why  good 
hatches  of  strong,  healthy  voting:  birds  may  not  be  ob- 
tained, and  the  same  matured  with  very  little  loss. 


Natural  and  Artificial  Duck  Culture. 


IT  is  only  within  a  few  years  that  the  public  at  large 
have  become  awake  to  the  importance  of  the  poul- 
try interests  in  the  country.  Formerly  it  was  sup- 
posed to  be  of  insignificant  proportions  compared 
to  the  beef  and  pork  product.  But  recent  statistics 
show  that  the  poultry  interests  in  magnitude  not  only 
exceed  either  of  the  above,  but  are  vastly  on  the  increase 
year  by  year.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  the  supply,  enormous 
as  it  is,  does  not  keep  pace  with  the  demand.  As  a  natu- 
ral consequence,  we  are  obliged  to  import  millions  of 
dozens  of  eggs  from  Europe,  and  carloads  of  poultry  of 
all  descriptions  from  Canada.  (December  21,  1888,  a 
train  of  twenty  refrigerator  cars  loaded  with  dressed 
poultry,  aggregating  200  tons,  arrived  in  Boston  from 
Canada, — $50,000  worth  of  dressed  poultry  at  one  ship- 
ment.) Still  the  demand  goes  on.  Our  large  cities, 
which  form  the  principal  market  for  poultry  and  eggs, 
are  growing  larger  every  year.  The  rich  men  who  in- 
habit them  are  growing  richer  and  more  numerous,  and 
are  always  ready  to  pay  the  poulterer  a  good  round  price 
for  a  first-class  article.  Good  poultry  has  not  only  be- 
come an  every  day  necessity  to  the  well-to-do  classes, 
but  is  a  common  article  of  diet  at  least  six  months  of  the 
year  on  the  workingman's  table.  It  is  everywhere  recog- 
nized by  physicians  as  the  best  and  most  palatable,  as 
well  as  the  most  wholesome  and  nutritious,  of  all  our 
flesh  diets. 


Duck  Culture  an   Important  Industry. 

Duck  culture  now  assumes  a  most  important  part  in 
the  poultry  business,  and  yet,  until  within  a  few  years, 
people  did  not  suppose  that  ducks  were  fit  to  eat.  But 
now  the  public  appetite  is  fast  becoming  educated  to 
the  fact  that  a  nice,  crispy,  roasted  duckling  of  ten 
weeks  old  is  not  only  a  dish  fit  for  an  epicure,  but  is  far 
ahead  of  either  turkey,  chicken  or  goose.  As  a  natural 
consequence,  the  demand  for  good  ducks  is  rapidly  in- 
creasing. One  of  the  principal  poultry  dealers  in  Boston 
assured  me  that  his  sales  of  ducks  had  nearly  doubled 
each  season  for  the  past  five  years.  Twenty  years  ago, 
when  growing  less  than  1500  ducks  yearly,  I  was  obliged 
to  visit  the  city  markets  personally  and  tease  the  deal- 
ers to  purchase  my  birds  in  order  to  secure  anything 
like  satisfactory  prices.  Now,  with  a  ranch  capacity 
of  nearly  20,000  ducks  yearly,  I  cannot  fill  my  orders. 

Pond  or  Lake  Not  Necessary. 

The  reason  is.  very  plain.  Formerly  people  supposed 
that  ducks  could  not  be  successfully  grown  without  ac- 
cess to  either  pond,  stream  or  coast  line.  As  a  natural 
consequence,  a  large  share  of  the  birds  sold  in  the  mar- 
kets were  grown  on  or  near  the  coasts,  fed  largely  on 
fish,  partially  fattened,  and  were  anything  but  a  tempt- 
ing morsel.  For  years  there  have  been  large  estab- 
lishments on  the  Long  Island  shores  devoted  to  duck- 
culture.  Large  seines  and  nets  were  used  regularly  to 
secure  the  fish  on  which  the  young  birds  were  fed  and 
fattened.  These  birds  grew  to  a  large  size  and  attained 
a  fine  plumage,  but,  as  might  be  surmised,  their  flesh 
was  coarse  and  fishy.  Occasionally  a  person  was  found 
who  relished  these  birds,  but  the  majority  of  people  pre- 
ferred to  eat  their  fish  and  flesh  separately.  Now  this  is 
all  changed. 


Duck-culture  of  today  is  quite  a  different  thing  from 
the  days  of  yore.  Then,  the  young  birds  were  con- 
fided to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  old  hen.  Now, 
the  business  is  all  done  artificially.  The  artificially- 
grown,  scrap-fed  duckling  of  the  interior  is  a  far 
different  bird  from  his  fishy-fed  brother  of  the  coast. 
He  has  been  educated  to  a  complete  indifference  to 
water  except  to  satisfy  his  thirst.  Taught  to  take  on 
flesh  and  fat  instead  of  feathers,  his  body  is  widened 
out  and  rounded  off,  and,  when  properly  denuded  of  his 
feathers,  is  a  thing  of  beauty. 

Ducks  In  Great  Demand,  for   Food. 

This  sudden  popularity  of  the  duck  in  our  markets, 
the  great  demand  for  them  on  the  tables  of  our  epicures, 
together  with  the  immense  profits  realized  from  growing 
them,  has  naturally  created  quite  an  interest  among 
poultry  men;  so  much  so  that  I  am  constantly  flooded 
with  letters  filled  with  inquiries  as  to  which  is  the  best 
variety  to  raise,  which  are  the  best  layers,  if  they  can  be 
hatched  in  incubators,  what  kind  of  buildings  are  neces- 
sary, the  amount  of  profit  realized, — in  short,  wishing 
me  to  give  them  the  whole  thing  in  detail,  which,  were 
one  willing,  it  would  be  completely  out  of  one's  power 
to  do.  As  there  seems  to  be  no  work  published  in  the 
country  to  meet  this  case  and  answer  these  queries,  in 
pure  self-defense,  and  through  earnest  persuasion  of 
many  friends,  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  through 
this  little  treatise,  endeavor  to  answer  them,  together 
with  many  other  points  which  will  naturally  suggest 
themselves. 

I  shall  confine  myself  almost  entirely  to  an  exposition 
of  the  artificial  method,  giving  my  own  experience  in 
the  business  for  the  last  thirty  years  in  detail.  In  doing 
this,  the  most  approved  buildings  will  be  (both  for  brood- 


ing  and  breeding)  described  in  full,  together  with  cuts 
of  the  egg  in  different  stages  of  incubation,  and  the 
living  and  dead  germ  compared,  and  how  to  distinguish 
each,  plainly  told.  Just  here  let  me  say  that  a  great  deal 
of  skepticism  prevails  among  people  in  general  and 
farmers  in  particular.  They  do  not  believe  in  the  suc- 
cess of  artificial  poultry  growing,  or,  indeed,  of  growing 
it  in  large  numbers  in  any  other  way.  As  a  proof  of 
their  assertions  they  will  tell  you  that  more  than  three- 
fourths  of  the  people  who  attempt  the  business  on  a 
large  scale  make  a  complete  failure  of  it.  And  it  is 
the  plain  truth.  There  are  few  communities  in  this  coun- 
try, large  as  it  is,  but  that,  at  some  time  in  the  past, 
has  had  a  bogus  incubator  within  its  limits,  or  a  good  one 
that  has  been  badly  managed.  The  unfortunate  experi- 
ence of  these  men  has  spread  for  miles  in  all  directions. 
There  is  but  one  verdict.  The  man  is  never  condemned. 
The  system  is  so  denounced  that  a  strong  prejudice  ex- 
ists against  all  incubators,  which  it  is  difficult  to  combat. 
Every  town,  too,  has  had  its  representative  poultry  man 
who  has  erected  extensive  buildings  with  a  view  to 
growing  poultry  on  a  large  scale  in  the  natural  wav. 
He,  too,  has  met  with  disaster.  Failure  has  attended 
his  efforts,  and  the  community  is  still  more  embittered 
against  the  whole  thing,  and  the  emphatic  "It  can't  be 
done,"  meets  you  on  every  side. 

Now,  there  is  a  cause  for  all  this.  Where  is  it?  In  the 
men.  They  do  not  comply  with  the  conditions  of  suc- 
cess, and  failure  is  the  result.  We  will  endeavor  to  sfive 
some  of  the  reasons  whv:  Nearly  three-fourths  of  these 
people  come  from  the  citv.  Now,  city  people  have  un- 
fortunately imbibed  the  impression  that  the  necessary 
amount  of  brains  and  executive  ability  required  to  suc- 
cessfully run  a  mercantile,  manufacturing  or  broker's 


10 

business  in  the  city  is  largely  in  excess  of  .that  required 
to  run  a  successful  poultry  or  agricultural  ranch  in  the 
country. 

Raising  Poultry  in  the  Country. 

Men  who  have  impoverished  themselves  by  re- 
peated failures  in  the  city  come  out  to  retrieve  their 
fortunes  by  raising  poultry  in  the  country.  They  visit 
your  place  and  see  thousands  of  young  ducklings  of  all 
sizes  and  ages,  each  one  vieing  with  the  other  as  to  which 
will  consume  the  most  food.  They  are  completely  car- 
ried away  with  the  sight.  They  question  you  closely  in 
regard  to  the  profit  derived  from  the  business,  and  then 
openly  avow  their  intention  of  doing  the  same  thing 
themselves.  You  advise  beginning  small,  and  meekly 
suggest  the  possibility  of  failure  through  inexperience. 
The  incredulous  smile  that  plays  over  their  features  in- 
forms you  that  advice  is  wasted.  "Why,  haven't  I  read 
up  all  the  poultry  journals  and  got  the  whole  thing 
down  fine?" 

Others,  still,  who,  from  close  confinement  at  seden- 
tary work  in  the  city,  are  anxious  to  engage  in  a  busi- 
ness which  promises  equally  to  restore  their  health  as 
well  as  to  provide  them  a  livelihood.  These  invalids 
come  out  with  their  exhausted  energies  and  dilapidated 
constitutions  to  engage  in  a  business  which,  to  insure 
success,  requires  a  minuteness  of  detail  and  intensity  of 
application  second  to  none.  They  are  unequal  to  the 
six  or  eight  hours  required  of  them  on  a  revolving 
stool  in  the- counting-room  in  the  city,  but  are  equal  to 
the  fourteen  and  sixteen  hours  indispensable  to  the 
poultry  business  in  the  country.  Is  it  strange  that  a 
large  proportion  of  these  men  fail? 

Others,  still,  come  to  us  wishing  to  engage  in  the 
business,  at  the  same  time  candidly  acknowledging  their 


11 

complete  ignorance  and  inexperience.  They  frankly  state 
their  circumstances.  They  are  poor,  with  families  to 
support,  and  are  not  afraid  of  work,  throwing  themselves, 
as  it  were,  upon  one's  mercy.  They  seek  a  good,  healthy 
and  fairly  profitable  occupation  in  which  they  can  culti- 
vate the  physique  and  morals  of  their  children  away 
from  the  temptations  of  city  life.  Mow  you  take  kindly 
to  such  men;  readily  forfeit  any  advantages  which  may 
accrue  to  yourself  through  want  of  candor  on  your  part, 
gauge  their  calibre,  and  to  the  best  of  your  ability  meas- 
ure their  chances  of  success,  and  give  them  the  best 
advice  you  can,  which  advice  usually  is  to  begin  small, — 
say  with  one  machine,  buildings  in  proportion,  and  in- 
crease their  plant  as  their  experience  and  judgment  dic- 
tates. 

Raise  Ducks  and  Chicks. 

But  the  reader  will  say:  "What  has  all  this  to  do  with 
duck-culture?"  Simply  this:  It  is  to  give  the  would-be 
poultry  enthusiast  some  idea  of  what  he  has  to  con- 
tend with  before  he  begins.  To  convince  him  that 
this  is  no  child's  play — that  the  care  of  young  ducks 
and  chicks  means  early  hours  and  late.  The  closest  con- 
finement and  application  is  required  for  at  least  six 
months  of  the  year,  and  if  he  is  at  all  afraid  of  hard  work 
or  of  soiling  his  fingers,  he  had  better  stop  where  he 
is.  The  theory  that  the  poultry  business  furnishes  a 
good  occupation  for  little  boys  and  girls,  superannuated 
old  men  and  invalids,  has  long  since  exploded.  We  ad- 
vise people  to  secure  a  fair  share  of  health  before  they 
begin  and  then  they  will  be  sure  to  keep  it.  As  an  in- 
ducement to  all,  I  would  say  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
way  of  farm  industry  or  any  other  legitimate  occupation 
which  will  at  all  compare  with  the  profits  obtained  from 
poultry  when  artificially  conducted.  There  are,  however, 


a  few  notable  exceptions  in  favor  of  watered  railroad 
stock,  bogus  mining  shares,  patent  medicines,  and  the 
business  done  by  our  bank  cashiers  when  guaranteed  a 
safe  transit  through  to  Canada.  1  would  advise  all  con- 
templating the  poultry  business  to  combine  the  growing 
of  ducks  and  chicks  together,  for  the  reason  that  more 
profit  can  be  realized  from  both  than  from  either  alone, 
because  they  do  not  necessarily  interfere  with  each  other, 
and  the  same  buildings  and  machinery  can  be  utilized 
for  both.  The  brooding-house  should  be  filled  with 
clucks  in  November  and  December,  which  they  will 
have  outgrown  by  February,  when  the  building  will  be 
required  for  ducklings.  The  ducklings,  strange  to  say, 
though  two  months  younger,  will  be  ready  tor  market 
as  soon  as  the  chicks  (provided  the  latter  are  held  tor 
roasters,  as  they  should  be)  and  they  will  both  be  in  the 
market  in  time  to  command  the  highest  prices.  This 
is  what  the  poulterer  should  always  cater  tor,  and  ma- 
chinery alone  will  enable  him  to  do  it.  .tie  who  expects 
to  incubate  with  old  hens  during  the  winter  will  surely 
get  left.  But  more  of  this  hereafter. 

Select  A  Good  Site. 

The  first  thing  for  one  to  do  (if  he  is  not  already  lo- 
cated), is  to  select  a  good  site.  It  should  have  a  gradual 
slope  to  the  east  or  south,  enough  for  natural  drainage. 
No  matter  how  poor  the  land,  it  will  be  rich  enough 
before  your  fowls  get  through  with  it.  I  need  not  say 
that  in  those  regions  where  snow  lies  upon  the  ground 
four  or  five  months  of  the  year,  the  conditions  are  not 
as  favorable  for  the  poultry  grower  as  near  the  coast 
line,  where  snow,  though  a  frequent  visitor,  remains 
but  a  few  weeks  or  days  at  a  time.  In  the  one  case  it 
means  close  confinement  to  the  fowls  a  great  part  of 


13 

the  winter,  with  want  of  exercise  and  consequent  want 
of  action  in  the  digestive  organs.  The  food  is  not  assimi- 
lated, the  fowls  become  debilitated,  and  though  they 
may  give  a  fair  share  of  eggs,  these  eggs  can  seldom  be 
depended  upon  to  hatch,  it  is  true,  the  active  poulterer 
may  overcome  this  in  a  measure  by  clearing  away  the 
snow  for  ten  or  fifteen  feet  in  front  of  his  buildings  after 
each  storm,  and  by  a  free  use  of  barn  chaff  and  chopped 
straw  induce  his  fowls  to  go  out  on  sunny  days,  but  all 
this  increases  his  work  and  makes  the  conditions  against 
him.  I  simply  mention  these  facts,  assuming  that  where 
a  man  has  his  choice  of  locations,  these  hints  may  have 
their  proper  weight  in  the  matter. 

Advantages  with  Ducks. 

The  same  rule  holds  good  in  a  measure  with  breeding 
ducks,  though  not  in  so  great  a  degree.  For  instance, 
your  hen  when  closely  confined  seems  to  lose  her  ambi- 
tion, and  spends  a  large  part  of  her  time  on  the  perches, 
apparently  indifferent  to  all  sublunary  things.  Not  so 
your  duck.  She  is  in  constant  motion,  no  matter  how 
small  her  quarters.  No  meditation  for  her.  Indeed,  the 
days  seem  too  short  for  her  to  exercise  in,  and  so  she 
keeps  it  up  through  a  great  part  of  the  night.  Her 
greatest  ambition  seems  to  be  to  distribute  the  few  quarts 
of  water  you  have  given  her  for  drink,  evenly  all  over 
the  pen  you  have  just  covered  with  dry,  finely-chopped 
straw,  and  make  it  as  sloppy  as  possible,  and  it  is  as- 
tonishing in  how  short  a  space  of  time  she  will  succeed 
in  doing  it.  Again,  snow  and  ice  are  the  aversion  of 
the  hen. 

She  cannot  be  induced  to  step  in  either  except  under 
pressure  of  circumstances.  Not  so  your  duck.  She  likes 
nothing  better  than  to  be  out  in  a  snow  bank  during  a 
thaw,  and  if  she  can  only  work  it  up  into  the  color  and 


14 

consistency  of  mud  it  suits  her  exactly.  She  does  not 
mind  the  cold  if  she  can  only  keep  her  feet  warm.  She 
is  clothed  with  an  impenetrable  coat  of  feathers  and  an 
equally  thick  coat  of  down.  She  does  not  take  kindly  to 
confinement  in  a  building  and  will  utter  her  constant 
protest,  and  like  the  average  school  boy  of  ten  prefers 
to  suffer  from  the  cold  outside  to  being  comfortable  in. 
Therefore,  the  main  point  in  breeding  early  ducks  and 
erecting  buildings  for  the  same,  next  to  supplying  them 
with  the  right  kind  of  food,  is  to  keep  their  feet  warm. 
Cold  feet  affect  the  winter  laying  of  the  duck  the  same 
as  a  frozen  comb  affects  the  hen.  It  stops  the  egg  pro- 
duction at  once. 

Locate  Near  a  Railroad. 

Your  plant  should  be  located  on  a  line  of  railroad, 
in  direct  communication  with  one  or  more  of  our  great 
city  markets,  and  not  too  far  from  the  station,  as  you 
will  necessarily  be  in  frequent  and  close  communication 
with  that. 

Arrange  the  Buildings. 

to  secure  good  room  in  front,  also  good  drainage,  and 
especially  with  a  view  to  reducing  the  labor  to  a  mini- 
mum, both  inside  and  out.  Always  remember  that  the 
labor  is  the  most  expensive  part  of  the  poultry  business. 
Now  is  the  time  for  forethought  and  caution — save  all 
the  steps,  all  the  work  you  can.  You  will  never  suffer 
from  want  of  exercise,  if  your  fowls  do.  I  never  knew 
a  case  of  gout  in  a  man  in  the  poultry  business  in  my 
life.  It  is  well,  also,  when  arranging  a  poultry  plant,  to 
make  provision  for  future  contingencies,  so  that  should 
one  in  the  course  of  time  and  experience  wish  to  increase 
his  plant  and  the  size  of  his  buildings  longitudinally  he 
will  have  plenty  of  room  to  do  it,  by  simply  moving  the 


15 

end  of  his  building  out  as  far  as  he  wishes  and  filling  in 
between.  I  have  been  obliged  to  do  this  several  times 
in  the  course  of  my  experience,  and  have  the  past  Fall 
built  a  double  brooding  house  250  feet  long  by  16  feet 
wide. 

One  important  point  in  erecting  poultry  buildings  is 
the  difficulty  in  building  them, 

"Warm,  Cheap,  and  Rat-proof. 

Formerly  I  built  stone  foundations  on  which  were 
placed  the  buildings,  cementing  the  stone  work  to  the 
sill  carefully  inside  and  out.  This  proved  in  the  end 
not  only  an  expensive  but  a  very  unsatisfactory  arrange- 
ment, for  cement  it  as  one  would  the  action  of  the  frost 
would  always  part  the  sill  from  the  foundation  and  admit 
the  cold  air  from  all  around  just  where  it  should  be  kept 
warm.  I  have  since  hit  upon  a  plan  which  has  not  only 
met  the  case  but  is  comparatively  inexpensive.  Place 
posts,  with  one  square  side  to  them,  about  four  feet 
apart,  on  which  place  the  2x4  inch  sill.  Set  these  posts  in 
the  ground  so  that  the  tops  rise  but  one  inch  above  the 
surface,  with  the  flat  side  exactly  horizontal  and  perpen- 
dicular to  the  inside  of  the  sill.  Then  sink  a  hemlock 
board  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  wide  into  the  ground 
inside  of  the  building,  and  immediately  in  front  of  the 
two-inch  sill,  until  the  upper  edge  is  flush  with  the  upper 
side  of  the  sill,  nailing  it  firmly  thereto,  filling  up  inside 
nearly  to  a  level  of  the  top  of  the  sill.  This  gives  a  warm, 
cheap  foundation  on  which  the  frost  does  not  act.  Hem- 
lock, too,  seems  to  have  an  affinity  for  moisture  and 
will  last  in  that  condition  from  eight  to  ten  years,  when 
it  can  be  easily  renewed.  This  arrangement  is  also 
comparatively  rat-proof,  as  a  hemlock  board  is  a  rat's 
aversion.  It  does  not  agree  with  their  teeth.  They 
cannot  possibly  dig  under  during  the  frozen  months  of 


16 

the  year,  and  as  it  affords  them  no  concealment  they  do 
not  care  to,  during  the  warm  season. 

The  Outside  Plan  of  a  Breeding  and  Brooding  House. 

with  the  exception  of  a  little  more  glass  in  the  latter, 
should  be  precisely  the  same  both  for  ducks  and  duck- 
lings. The  internal  arrangements  can  be  made  to  suit. 
As  I  shall  give  a  full  description  with  cuts  of  this  build- 
ing later,  I  will  now  merely  give  the  manner  in  which  it 
should  be  arranged  as  a  good  breeding-house  for  ducks. 
This  building  should  be  fifteen  feet  wide  and  any  length 
required.  It  should  have  an  uneven  double  roof,  five- 
foot  posts  in  the  rear  and  four  foot  in  front.  About 
one-quarter  of  this  front  should  be  glass.  There  should 
be  a  walk  the  entire  length  of  the  building  three  and  one- 
half  feet  wide.  The  main  body  of  the  building  should  be 
divided  into  pens  twenty  feet  long,  by  either  lath  or 
wire  two  feet  high. 

The  walk  should  be  separated  from  the  pens  by  laths 
three  inches  apart,  to  allow  the  birds  to  feed  and  water 
from  the  walk.  This  method  simplifies  the  labor  very 
much,  as  it  enables  the  operator  to  load  his  barrow, 
travel  the  whole  length  of  a  2OO-foot  building  and  feed 
and  water  500  ducks  in  a  few  minutes.  This  arrange- 
ment has  many  other  advantages  besides,  as  it  permits 
the  birds  to  feed  and  water  readily  from  the  walk  without 
being  able  to  waste  either,  or  mix  the  contents  of  food 
and  water-dishes  with  filth.  It  also  prevents  the  birds 
from  sopping  the  straw  in  the  bottom  of  their  pens,  or 
of  soiling  their  white  plumage,  both  of  which  they  are 
bound  to  do  if  possible,  and  as  the  duck,  especially  the 
Pekin,  is  a  very  timid  bird,  this  plan  familarizes  her  with 
the  appearance  of  the  attendant  without  bringing  her 
into  actual  contact  with  him. 


17 
Use  Half  the  Pens  for  Feeding  Purposes. 

One-half  or  ten  feet  of  the „ twenty-foot  pens  should 
be  utilized  for  feeding  purposes.  The  lower  board  of  this 
slat  partition  should  not  be  more  than  three  inches  wide 
and  should  rest  upon  the  ground  so  the  birds  can  readily 
feed  over  it.  As  this  ten-foot  partition  is  but  two  feet 
high,  the  attendant  can  readily  step  over  it  to  pick  up  a 
stray  egg  occasionally.  Six  feet  of  this  partition  should  be 
portable  and  secured  with  a  groove  or  button  so  it  can 
be  easily  removed  to  allow  the  entrance  of  a  barrow  in 
cleaning  out  the  pens;  this  should  be  done  when  the 
birds  are  out,  never  when  they  are  in. 

The  remaining  ten  feet  of  the  pen  should  be  used  for 
nest  boxes,  which  can  be  fifteen  inches  square  and  one 
foot  high.  A  board  four  inches  wide  may  be  fastened 
in  front  to  prevent  the  nest  material  from  being  drawn 
out.  This  latter  may  be  composed  of  finely  cut  hay  or 
chaff.  This  must  be  perfectly  dry,  as  the  duck  while 
laying  will  work  it  all  over  and  cover  her  eggs  carefully, 
which  as  they  are  pure  white,  become  easily  soiled  and 
stained;  this  will  necessitate  washing  unless  things  are 
kept  dry  and  clean.  This  is  a  vital  point  with  us,  as  it 
never  did  seem  as  if  a  filthy  egg  would  hatch  as  well 
as  a  clean  one.  I  abominate  a  machine  filled  with  filthy 
eggs ;  it  actually  hurts  my  feelings  to  handle  them.  These 
nests  should  be  covered  closely  and  the  partition  above 
them  be  correspondingly  high,  as  the  birds  will  often 
mount  upon  the  boxes.  The  back  of  the  nest  boxes  next 
the  walk  should  be  closed  with  a  board  hinged  below  so 
that  the  attendant  can  let  it  down  readily  and  secure 
the  eggs  from  the  walk. 

The   Room  for  Mixing  Feed. 

Some  twelve  feet  of  this  breeding-house  may  be  uti- 
lized as  a  cook  and  mixing  room,  and  must  necessarily 


18 

be  a  little  higher  posted  than  the  rest  of  the  building, — 
say,  two  feet  higher.  This  cookroom,  with  boiler,  is  an 
essential  thing  in  a  duck-house.  Unlike  hens,  they  do 
not  take  kindly  to  hard  food  and  whole  grain.  Their 
digestive  organs,  in  many  points,  are  different  from  trie 
hens,  and  they  do  not  assimilate  hard  food  readily.  They 
require  more  vegetable  food,  and  those  vegetables  must, 
be  cooked, — but  more  about  this  hereafter. 

Of  course,  this  building  should  be  sweet  and  clean, 
and  must  be  well  deodorized;  for,  though  ducks  do  not 
generate  vermin  like  other  fowl,  and  are  not  subject  to 
as  many  diseases,  or  as  readily  affected  by  thermal 
changes, — in  fact,  a  good  driving  rainstorm  is  their  de- 
light,— yet  they  will  not  thrive  when  confined  in  filthy 
quarters.  It  engenders  a  morbid  appetite,  impairs  di- 
gestion, and  your  bird  is  poor  before  you  know  it. 
This,  of  course,  arrests  the  egg  production  at  once. 

I  wish  here  to  impress  upon  the  breeder  the  absolute 
necessity  of  the  careful  handling  and  feeding  of  his  birds; 
and,  when  necessary,  handle  very  gently,  always  taking 
the  bird  by  the  neck.  This  is  very  essential,  because  the 
bones  of  a  well-bred,  well-fatted  duck  seem  wholly  dis- 
proportioned  to  the  size  and  weight  of  his  body,  and  we 
have  often  seen  a  wing  broken  or  a  leg  disjointed  by  the 
convulsive  efforts  of  the  bird  to  escape  when  caught  by 
those  members  through  the  carelessness  of  the  attendant. 

The  timidity  of  the  Pekin  is  proverbial.  You  should 
move  quietly  among  your  layers  if  you  would  have  them 
thrive,  as  constant  agitation  and  disquietude  will  surely 
debilitate  them  and  reduce  their  flesh.  I  have  known  a 
pair  of  heavy  exhibition  birds  to  lose  a  pound  per  day 
during  their  confinement  the  first  four  days  of  exhibi- 
tion, and  to  be  eight  pounds  lighter  than  they  were 
ten  days  before  when  started  for  the  show.  Their  recu- 
perative powers  are  equally  wonderful.  I  have  often 


19 

seen  Pekin  ducks,  after  having  produced  one  hundred 
eggs  in  nearly  as  many  days,  on  evincing  a  desire  to  sit, 
and  being  somewhat  reduced  in  flesh,  when  shut  up  in 
a  yard  with  drakes  and  well  fed,  in  less  than  a  week 
commence  her  regular  contribution  of  an  egg  per  day. 

Water  Not  Needed. 

The  majority  of  people  have  the  impression  that  water 
to  bathe  in  is  essential  to  secure  fertility  in  duck  eggs, 
but  it  is  a  great  mistake.  My  ducks  never  see  water, 
the  year  round,  except  to  drink.  They  are  confined  in 
yards  24x100  feet,  some  forty  in  each  yard,  twenty-four 
feet  being  the  size  of  the  pens  inside  of  the  breeding 
house.  They  are  confined  in  these  yards  for  nine 
months,  or  till  August  i,  when  they  are  removed  in  or- 
der that  the  land  may  be  disinfected.  This  is  done  by 
plowing  and  growing  a  crop  of  barley  or  rye,  when  the 
land  is  ready  for  the  ducks  again. 

Free  Range  Unnecessary. 

I  am  constantly  experimenting  to  see  if  there  are  de- 
fects in  my  system.  A  few  years  ago  I  had  thirty  breed- 
ing-yards devoted  to  ducks.  I  wished  to  ascertain  the 
difference  in  egg  production  and  percentage  of  fertility 
between  ducks  yarded  close  and  those  with  free  range, 
the  feed  and  ovher  conditions  being  the  same.  One  lot 
of  fifty  ducks  were  allowed  the  range  of  a  five-acre  lot, 
in  addition  to  their  own  yard.  They  ranged  in  common 
with  our  cows,  there  being  plenty  of  grass.  Another 
lot  of  seventy-ave  were  allowed  the  range  of  the  whole 
premises,  with  the  same  feed  and  care  as  the  eight  yards 
confined.  The  latter  were  liberally  supplied  with  all  the 
green  and  vegetable  food  needed.  The  egg  production 
and  the  fertility  of  each  were  carefully  noted.  I  was 
much  surprised  to  find  that  the  difference  was  very  little, 
and  that  in  favor  of  the  birds  confined. 


20 
The  Mode  of  Feeding. 

differs  with  the  season  of  the  year.  During  the  autumn 
and  early  winter  months  feed  twice  each  day  about  equal 
quantities  of  cornmeal,  wheat-bran,  and  boiled  turnips 
and  potatoes,  with  about  ten  per  cent,  of  ground  beef 
scrap  thrown  in.  At  noon,  give  a  small  amount  of  dry 
food,  composed  of  equal  quantities  of  cracked  corn,  oats, 
and  wheat.  When  the  birds  commence  laying,  as  they 
will  about  January  ist,  gradually  increase  the  quantity 
of  meal  and  animal  food,  proportionally  decreasing  the 
amount  of  bran. 

The  Pekin  Duck. 

is  my  favorite.  I  have  experimented  carefully  during 
the  last  thirty  years  with  all  the  larger  breeds,  crossing 


PEKIN  DUCKS. 


them  in  every  conceivable  way  to  obtain  the  best  results, 
and  am  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  Pekins.  I  am  now 
through  experimenting,  and  as  I  grow  nearly  20,000 


21 

ducklings  yearly,  can  hardly  afford  to  guess  at  it,  as  one 
cent  per  bird  makes  a  difference  of  over  $200.  in  my  re- 
ceipts,— one  cent  per  pound,  a  difference  of  over  $1200. 
It  is  readily  seen  that  I  can  only  afford  to  use  the  bird 
that  will  grow  the  greatest  number  of  pounds  of  flesh  in 
the  shortest  space  of  time.  Nor  is  this  all.  It  must  be 
the  bird  that  will  give  you  the  first  eggs  of  the  season, 
as  this  will  enable  you  to  get  your  birds  on  the  market 
when  they  will  command  the  highest  price,  as  there  is 
more  clear  profit  from  one  early  bird  than  from  three 
later  ones.  This  will  be  the  more  readily  understood 
when  it  is  known  that  the  maximum  price  paid  for  early 
birds  is  thirty  cents  per  pound  in  Boston  and  New 
York,  the  minimum  price  for  late  ones  eighteen  cents,  the 
cost  of  production  being  the  same  for  both. 

The  Pekin  Combines  the  Best  Points. 

The  Pekin  is  the  only  bird  that  will  cover  all  these 
points.  It  has  two  slight  defects, — its  extreme  timidity 
and  its  heavy,  coarse  voice,  which  it  does  not  scruple 
to  use  when  congregated  in  large  numbers.  The  for- 
mer can  be  easily  overcome  by  careful  handling.  But 
to  off-set  these  defects  the  Pekin  will  not  only  produce 
the  first  eggs  of  the  season,  but  by  far  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  any  of  the  breeds,  with  one  exception,  the  In- 
dian Runner.  They  mature  earlier,  are  more  hardy  and 
domestic  in  their  habits,  never  wandering  far,  and  al- 
ways returning  to  the  coops  at  night.  They  are  not 
mischievous,  and  require  less  water  than  either  of  the 
other  breeds. 

My  birds  have  for  generations  been  bred  in  dry  yards, 
with  simply  water  to  drink,  and  all  desire  for  it  for 
other  purposes  seems  to  have  been  bred  out  of  them. 
When  allowed  their  freedom  in  the  fall,  the  flocks  never 
visit  the  brook,  fifteen  or  twenty  rods  distant,  and  when 


22 

driven  there  occasionally  for  the  purpose  of  purifying 
their  feathers,  get  out  again  just  as  soon  as  possible. 
Indeed,  after  a  water  bath  their  feathers  cling  to  their 
bodies,  and  they  present  the  same  bedraggled  appear- 
ance that  the  old  hen  did  many  years  ago  after  one  had 
immersed  her  in  a  water-barrel  to  cure  her  propensity 
for  sitting. 

A  wealthy  New  Yorker  ordered  a  dozen  of  my  best 
ducks,  a  year  or  two  ago.  In  a  few  weeks  he  wrote  that 
he  wished  to  return  them,  as  they  did  not  answer  his 
purpose;  "for,"  said  he,  "1  have  an  artificial  lake  on  my 
lawn,  near  my  piazza,  and  I  wanted  these  ducks  to  dis- 
port in  the  water  for  the  pleasure  of  my  wife  and  chil- 
dren, and  they  will  not  go  in  the  water  at  all  unless  I 
drive  them  in  with  a  whip,  and  I  have  to  stand  guard 
over  them  all  the  time,  as  they  get  out  the  moment  my 
back  is  turned."  I  wrote  him  in  return  that  had  I  known 
he  wanted  the  ducks  for  their  aquatic  performances,  I 
should  have  recommended  the  common  puddle  duck, 
when  he  would  have  had  as  much  trouble  to  get  them 
out  of  the  water  as  he  had  to  get  the  Pekins  in. 

Feathers  are  Pure  White. 

Another  advantage  of  the  Pekin  over  the  other  breeds 
is  their  pure  white,  elastic  feathers  which  are  largely 
mixed  with  down.  These  feathers  readily  command 
from  forty  to  fifty  cents  per  pound,  and  as  the  reader  can 
see,  are  no  mean  source  of  income,  especially  when  the 
birds  are  grown  in  large  numbers.  These  birds,  as  their 
name  indicates,  originated  in  China.  They  are  large, 
beautiful  birds,  of  a  proud,  erect  carriage,  with  pure  white 
plumage  outside.  The  inside  feathers  are  slightly  cream 
colored.  The  neck  is  long  and  gracefully  curved;  the 
head  long  and  finely  shaped,  with  a  full  bright  eye.  The 
legs  and  beak  are  of  a  very  dark  orange,  and  form  a  fine 


23 

contrast  to  the  pure  white  feathers.  The  minimum  weight 
of  our  birds  when  matured  is  about  fourteen  pounds  per 
pair,  while  the  very  heaviest  will  tip  the  scales  at  twenty- 
two  pounds.  My  first  experience  with  ducks  com- 
menced more  than  forty  years  ago.  We  used  the  com- 
mon puddle  ducks  and  grew  them  for  the  city  market. 
The  ducks  were  very  small  and  so  were  the  profits.  They 
were  fed  but  little  and  allowed  full  range,  consequently 
the  home  ties  were  not  strong. 

Those  ducks  followed  the  little  brook  in  the  pasture 
through  swamps  and  marshes  for  half  a  mile  in  either 
direction,  wholly  regardless  of  farm  limits.  If  we  expected 
any  eggs  from  those  ducks  they  should  have  been  safely 
housed  at  night.  This  task  devolved  upon  the  boys.  Now 
our  paternal  head,  though  a  kind  and  indulgent  parent 
(unfortunately  for  us),  had  the  impression  that  boys  were 
made  to  work,  and  work  we  did.  Now,  what  boy  of  ten 
or  twelve  years  had  not  rather  chase  ducks  through  the 
mud  in  the  swamp  than  to  wield  the  hoe  among  the 
weeds  in  the  corn  field?  It  was  our  recreation,  our 
chief  solace  and  delight  through  those  long,  hot  summer, 
days — the  anticipation  of  that  duck  hunt  in  the  evening. 
I  think  our  extraordinary  love  for  the  duck  hailed  from 
this  date.  Later  on  we  used  a  cross  between  a  Rouen 
and  Cayuga.  This  cross  made  a  much  larger  and  better 
market  bird.  The  flesh  was  better  flavored.  They  pro- 
duced more  eggs  and  began  earlier  in  the  spring,  con- 
sequently prices  and  profits  slightly  improved. 

These  birds  did  not  stray  as  far,  but  were  as  fond  of 
mud  and  water  .as  their  little  predecessors.  It  was  a  pleas- 
ing and  comical  sight  to  see  three  or  four  hundred  of  these 
ducklings  of  all  ages,  when  first  let  out  in  the  morning, 
run  down  the  hill  in  their  eager  haste  to  reach  the  swamp, 
a  part  of  them  right  side  up,  then  rolling  over  and  over 
on  their  broadsides;  others  still  reversing  themselves 


24 

end  for  end  down  the  steep  incline,  apparently  a  matter 
of  supreme  indifference  how,  so  long  as  they  reached 
the  mud  first. 

These  ducklings  always  returned  at  night  with  their 
numbers  more  or  less  depleted,  as  they  were  the  legiti- 
mate prey  of  skunks,  minks,  weasels  and  mud  turtles; 
and  if  we  reached  the  summer's  end  with  sixty  per  cent, 
of  the  original  number  we  were  well  satisfied.  All  this 
has  been  changed.  We  have  learned  a  number  of  points 
on  duck  culture  since  then.  First,  that  all  losses  by  ver- 
min can  be  easily  avoided  by  yarding  your  little  birds  at 
home  and  keeping  them  under  your  own  eye.  Second, 
that  mud  and  water  externally  applied  are  not  essential 
to  their  growth  and  well-being,  and  that  in  fact  they  will 
thrive  better  without. 

Ready  for  Market  3  Months  Earlier. 

Third,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  keep  your  birds  till 
they  are  six  months  old  in  the  fall  and  then  put  them  on 
the  market  when  it  is  sure  to  be  glutted,  but  much  bet- 
ter to  market  them  at  ten  weeks,  when  they  are  nearly 
as  heavy,  and  you  are  sure  to  get  more  than  double  the 
price,  as  well  as  save  three  or  four  months  extra  feed. 
There  are  many  other  points  connected  with  this  thing 
which  the  novice  must  ponder  carefully  before  he  begins, 
as  a  slight  mistake  in  the  beginning  often  means  a  great 
loss  in  the  end.  As  pioneers  in  the  business  we  have  for 
many  years  been  carefully  experimenting  with  the  dif- 
ferent breeds,  different  treatment  and  variety  of  food. 
We  have  met  with  many  failures,  suffered  some  loss, 
but  with  a  gradual  improvement  through  it  all,  which 
has  been  very  encouraging  to  us,  and  though  we  do  not 
claim  perfection,  yet  we  are  now  reaping  a  rich  harvest 
compared  to  which  our  former  losses  are  simply  insig- 
nificant. It  is  a  source  of  gratification  to  know  that 
success  has  at  last  crowned  our  efforts. 


25 

When  we  look  back  forty  years— when  year  after  year 
chronicled  failure  and  our  best  efforts  met  with  loss — 
when  we  wrere  the  butt,  ridicule,  and  laughing  stock  of 
the  whole  community;  when  we  were  assured  again  and 
again  that  we  were  fighting  against  nature  and  never 
could  succeed,  and  repeated  failures  only  seemed  to  con- 
firm that  assertion, — and  compare  it  with  the  present, 
when  we  can  grow  our  birds  by  the  thousands,  regulate 
the  growth,  control  the  mortality,  and  grow  flesh  or 
feathers  at  will;  have  shortened  the  precocity,  in- 
creased fecundity,  and  even  educated  the  birds  to  an 
aversion  for  water,  which  was  formerly  their  home;  we 
have  completely  reversed  the  order  of  things  and  taught 
our  birds  to  reproduce  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  all 
nature  is  against  them,  we  can  safely  feel  the  victory 
is  won.  We  hope  that  our  readers  will  not  only  benefit 
by  the  experience  we  shall  present,  but  that  many  of 
them  will  be  able  to  take  this  and  carry  it  on  where,  ac- 
cording to  the  natural  course  of  things,  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  leave  it.  We  are  no  longer  young,  the  in- 
firmities and  decrepitude  of  age  are  slowly  creeping  upon 
us  and  admonish  us  that  our  days  of  research  are  nearly 
over,  and  we  find  that  our  life  is  all  too  short.  But  there 
is  a  satisfaction  in  knowing  that  others  will  take  this 
thing  up  where  we  leave  off  and  carry  it  on  to  the  end. 

The  Superiority  of  Artificial  Poultry  Growing. 

We  predict  a  great  future  for  artificial  poultry  grow- 
ing. It  is  yet  in  its  infancy.  The  time  will  come  when 
it  will  gradually  supersede  many  of  the  regular  farm 
crops  on  the  sterile  soil  of  New  England,  when  every 
farmer  will  have  his  proper  complement  of  poultry  ap- 
pliances, and  when  you  can  prove  to  the  average  farmer 
that  the  capital  necessary  to  run  a  poultry  plant  (which 
will  with  less  labor  ensure  him  a  greater  income  than 


26 

that  from  his  whole  farm)"  is  less  than  one-fourth  of  that 
required  for  any  other  farm  investment.  You  will  begin 
to  see  him  scratch  his  head  to  evolve  ideas.  The  begin- 
ner in  starting,  should  recollect  that  this  is  a  business 
of  detail  and  that  small  things  must  be  taken  into  ac- 
count. It  is  not  only  a  very  essential  thing  to  choose 
the  best  breeding  stock  that  can  be  had,  but,  all  other 
conditions  being  the  same,  to  select  the  color  of  their 
feathers. 

We  have  always  had  -a  predilection  in  favor  of  white 
birds,  for  the  feathers  (which  are  no  small  item  in  ducks) 
command  nearly  double  the  price  of  colored  ones,  and 
are  always  more  saleable.  Again,  we  must  cater  for  the 
market  with  young  birds,  and  every  one  knows  that 
young  birds  are  more  or  less  addicted  to  pinfeathers, 
many  of  which  it  is  very  difficult  to  remove,  as  they  have 
secured  a  lodgment  just  under  the  skin,  but  have  not 
found  their  way  through.  Now  a  dark  pinfeather  is  a 
blot  upon  the  fair  surface  of  a  fine  chicken  or  duck,  and 
the  thrifty  housewife  in  selecting  her  dinner  will  al- 
ways leave  the  pins  behind.  She  does  not  like  a  variety 
of  colors  in  her  duckling,  if  she  does  in  her  dress.  The 
dealer,  aware  of  this  peculiarity  of  the  ladies  (who,  by 
the  way,  form  a  large  share  of  his  customers)  will,  if 
he  buys  at  all,  cut  you  on  the  price. 

Unfortunately  we  started  in  with,  dark  birds,  but  it 
did  not  matter  at  that  time,  as  the  Pekin  had  not  been 
imported,  and  there  were  very  few  Aylesburys  in  the 
country.  We  were  surrounded  by  vermin  of  all  kinds. 
Our  young  birds  disappeared  mysteriously,  and  in  such 
large  numbers  that  we  were  nearly  discouraged.  Hawks 
do  not  trouble  ducks,  but  rats,  weasels  and  minks  de- 
veloped such  a  fondness  for  them  as  to  completely  atone 
for  any  neglect  on  their  part.  We  made  a  free  use  of 
steel  traps,  guns,  and  phosphoretic  poison.  The  battle 


27 

raged  for  two  years;  at  the  end  of  that  time  I  think  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find  one  of  the  above-mentioned 
vermin  one-fourth  of  a  mile  from  the  place.  It  was  a 
great  relief;  our  ducklings  could  range  at  will,  ev^n  be 
left  out  during  the  night,  and  still  the  full  complement 
appear  at  the  dough-troughs  in  the  morning. 

Do  Not  Have  Neighbors  Too  Near. 

Another  source  of  discomfort  was  our  neighbors'  cats. 
Now,  we  are  eminently  social  in  our  disposition,  and 
enjoy  our  neighbors'  company  very  much.  We  like  to 
spend  a  social  evening  with  them  and  have  them  do  the 
same  by  us.  But  not  so  their  cats.  We  never  inter- 
changed civilities  with  them,  their  visits  were  too  ill 
timed  and  frequent.  Our  ducklings  were  carried  off  in 
large  numbers,  and  in  pure  self-defense  we  shot  the  cats. 

Of  course,  this  made  trouble  in  our  neighbors'  fami- 
lies, especially  the  female  portion,  by  whom  it  was 
promptly  resented.  The  principle  of  "touch  my  dog, 
touch  me,"  was  illustrated  here  in  all  its  force.  No 
amount  of  provocation  ever  justified  us  in  their  eyes  in 
killing  their  cats.  With  pater  familias  it  was  different. 
His  affections  were  not  engaged.  He  recognized  the 
necessity  of  the  thing,  laughed  it  off,  and  said  it  was  all 
right.  Now,  cats  breed  fast  and  are  very  prolific,  and  our 
neighbors  were  plenty,  and  we  are  unwilling  to  state 
the  amount  of  our  losses  from  those  sources,  for  fear  our 
veracity  would  be  doubted.  We  endured  this  sort  of 
annoyance  for  some  twelve  years,  but  made  up  our 
minds  that  if  wre  ever  selected  another  poultry  ranch  we 
would  locate  our  neighbors  at  a  distance.  We  have  done 
so,  and  now  have  no  trouble  from  this  source. 

We  found  that  the  Cayuga  duck  was  a  more  preco- 
cious bird  than  the  Rouen,  and  were  better  layers.  The 
eggs  were  more  fertile.  They  were  also  much  hardier, 


28 

and,  as  a  consequence,  there  was  less  mortality  among 
the  young.  But  they  were  rather  small  in  size,  dressing 
only  seven  to  nine  pounds  per  pair.  The  Rouens  were 
nearly  four  pounds  heavier,  but  had  their  disadvantages. 
They  were  not  so  productive  in  eggs,  and  those  did  not 
give  us  the  same  percentage  of  hatch,  while  the  mor- 
tality among  the  little  ones  was  much  greater.  We  do 
not  like  to  condemn  any  variety  of  birds  on  one  trial,  as 
we  mav  be  unfortunate  in  our  selection  of  a  strain,  but 


CAYUGA  DUCKS. 

our  subsequent  experience  with  these  birds  fully  con- 
firms the  above;  and  though  they  are  a  large,  attractive 
bird,  we  do  not  consider  them  as  hardy  as  either  Pekin, 
Aylesbury  or  Cayuga. 

We  conceived  the  plan  of  crossing  this  bird  with  the 
Cayuga,  with  a  view  of  increasing  the  size,  not  knowing 
whether  the  good  or  the  negative  qualities  of  the  two 
birds  would  prevail.  We  were  very  much  pleased  with 
the  results  of  this  cross,  as  it  gave  us  all  the  good  quali- 
ties of  the  Cayuga  with  the  largely  increased  size  of  the 


29 

Rouen.  It  gave  us  also  a  good  table  bird,  the  flesh  of 
which  was  far  better  flavored  than  that  of  the  puddle 
duck.  We  made  the  duck  business  then  supplementary  to 
that  of  growing  chickens.  Our  chicks  were  hatched  out 
early  in  the  winter  in  order  to  secure  the  high  prices. 
Our  ducks  during  the  spring  and  summer  were  not 
marketed  until  fall.  We  did  not  expect  those  ducks  to 
lay  till  the  first  of  April,  and  they  did  not  disappoint  us. 
If  anyone  had  told  us  that  young  ducks  could  be  made 
to  lay  at  four  or  five  months  old,  and  that  we  could  have 


ROUEN  DUCKS. 

our  young  broods  out  by  the  thousands  at  that  time,  we 
should  have  called  him  insane.  We  then  gave  our  duck- 
lings free  range,  and,  as  a  consequence,  lost  large  num- 
bers of  them  from  eating  injurious  insects,  which,  in 
their  haste,  they  did  not  stop  to  kill,  and  paid  the  pen- 
alty with  their  lives. 

Now,  the  genuine  duckling  is  proverbially  stupid.  He 
has  an  immense  faculty  for  getting  himself  into  trouble, 
without  the  first  idea  as  to  how  he  shall  get  out.  As,  for 


30 

instance,  we  had  taken  up  some  old  fence-posts  one  day, 
and  carelessly  left  the  holes  (some  two  feet  deep)  unfilled. 
When  feeding  time  came  at  night  we  missed  many  of 
our  little  ducklings,  and,  at  the  same  time,  heard  a  great 
squeaking,  which  we  could  not  locate.  We  finally  traced 
it  to  the  post-holes,  which  we  found  nearly  full  of  young 
ducklings,  not  much  the  worse  for  the  adventure.  When 
we  look  back  at  the  difficulties  with  which  we  had  to 
contend,  and  the  losses  we  sustained  in  consequence,  I 
often  wonder  that  we  were  not  discouraged.  It  was 
blunder  after  blunder,  repeated  always  with  the  same  re- 
sults. We  had  very  little  idea  of  the  systematic  care 
and  regular  food  required  to  ensure  against  loss  and  en- 
able the  young  birds  to  attain  a  weight  in  a  few  weeks 
which  we  supposed  required  almost  as  many  months. 
We  still  had  the  impression  that  water  was  essential  to 
the  welfare  of  the  birds,  both  old  and  young,  and  that 
eggs  would  not  be  fertile  unless  copulation  took  place 
in  the  water.  So  we  built  a  tank  for  use  during  the  dry 
season  of  the  year  (which  held  about  a  hogshead),  and 
cemented  it  thoroughly. 

This  tank  we  laboriously  filled  with  water  for  the  birds 
to  sport  in,  but  it  did  not  work,  as  it  soon  became  so  of- 
fensive that  we  were  obliged  to  renew  it  at  least  every 
three  days,  so  that  we  soon  became  tired  of  it,  and  once 
more  allowed  the  ducks  the  liberty  of  the  swamp.  We 
never  obtained  more  than  half  of  the  number  of  eggs 
that  we  now  get  from  our  Pekins.  About  this  time  the 
Aylesbury  duck  came  under  our  notice,  and  we  procured 
a  number  of  them  at  once,  as  they  came  highly  recom- 
mended, but  they  did  not  meet  our  expectations.  They 
were  a  very  pretty  bird  to  look  at,  and  their  feathers 
were  more  valuable,  but  there  the  advantage  ended,  for 
the  strain  we  obtained  was  a  trifle  smaller  than  the  mon- 
grels we  had  been  breeding, — rather  more  delicate  to 


31 

rear,  and,  worse  than  all,  we  found  it  almost  impossible 
to  pick  them.  In  all  our  experience  before  or  since  we 
have  never  seen  anything  to  equal  those  birds.  The 
tenacity  of  those  feathers  was  exasperating.  Every  one 
was  bound  to  retain  its  complement  of  flesh.  Of  course 
the  birds  were  so  disfigured  that  the  most  of  them  were 
retained  for  family  use.  It  was  no  use  to  think  of  scald- 
ing them, — that  would  not  only  seriously  injure  the 
feathers,  but  would  completely  spoil  the  birds  for  Boston 
market,  as  scalded  birds  are  rejected  at  once  and  classed 
with  cheap  Western  fowls. 

While  going  the  rounds  of  Boston  market  one  pleas- 
ant June  day,  shortly  after  our  experience  with  the  Ayles- 
burys,  we  noticed  some  fine  young  birds  nicely  dressed, 
that  had  evidently  snow-white  plumage.  As  this  was 
before  the  advent  of  iced  poultry,  we  supposed  the  birds 
had  come  from  the  regions  of  the  far  South,  and  our 
curiosity  was  excited.  We  interviewed  the  dealer  and 
was  surprised  to  learn  that  the  birds  were  grown  to  the 
north  of  us,  and  that  they  were  the  Pekin  ducks  we  had 
heard  of  for  a  year  or  two,  but  had  taken  no  stock  in. 
Yet  here  they  were  in  the  market,  while  ours  were  tod- 
dling about  at  home  less  than  half  grown.  Here  was  a 
revelation.  We  procured  some  eggs  of  this  party,  at 
once,  and  in  due  time  hatched  out  sixty  lively  young 
ducklings.  They  were  tended  with  the  utmost  care  and 
not  one  was  lost.  We  were  very  much  interested  in 
these  little  fellows,  they  were  so  hardy,  and  you  could 
fairly  see  them  grow.  It  occurred  to  me  at  this  time  to 
try  and  experiment  with  these  ducklings,  keep  a  correct 
account  of  all  food  consumed  by  them,  and  ascertain* 
what  they  cost  per  pound  when  ready  for  market.  The 
average  weight  was  taken  from  the  rejected  drakes 
which  we  did  not  need  for  breeding  purposes,  and  which 
were  culled  out  and  sent  to  market  at  ten  weeks  old. 


We  were  very  much  surprised  to  find  the  cost  to  us 
(exclusive  of  the  cost  of  eggs)  was  about  4  3-4  cents 
per  pound.  We  could  hardly  credit  our  own  eyes.  The 
calculation  was  made  again  and  again  with  the  same  re- 
sult. The  same  calculation  was  made  a  year  later  on 
two  yards  of  some  three  hundred  ducklings  with  a  re- 
sult obtained,  when  ready  for  market,  of  5  1-4  cents  per 
pound,  including  cost  of  eggs. 


AYLESBURY  DUCKS. 

As  I  had  long  since  left  the  paternal  abode,  and  for 
years  had  ceased  to  superintend  the  establishments  of 
others,  and  as  the  following  experience  will  be  entirely 
my  own,  I  shall  hereafter  use  the  personal  "I".  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  the  figures  arrived  at  from  the  cal- 
culations made  of  those  ducks  were  startling.  What! 
can  I  grow  ducks  in  three  months  as  cheaply  as  I  can 
grow  pork  in  a  year,  or  beef  in  two  years,  and  then  get 
six  times  as  much  per  pound  for  it  after  it  is  grown? 
Yes,  if  figures  tell  the  truth.  Can  I  afford  longer  to 
grow  large  crops  of  fruit  and  vegetables,  working  early 
and  late,  risking  frosts  and  drouths,  making  a  bare  live- 


33 

lihood,  when  with  one-tenth  part  of  the  labor  and  capital 
involved  I  can  grow  a  crop  which  drouths  and  frosts  do 
not  injure,  and  make  five  times  as  much?  No!  I  have 
not  had  a  hog  on  my  farm  since  I  kept  a  Kemp's  spreader 
to  work  over  the  manure,  and  simply  grow  fruit  and 
vegetables  enough  for  feathered  thieves  and  home  con- 
sumption. Another  question  arose:  "What  shall  I  do 
with  my  cows?"  some  sixteen  or  eighteen  in  number, 
bull,  young  stock,  etc. 

My  Farm. 

Now,  I  had  become  somewhat  proud  of  my  farm,  as 
what  man  does  not  who  had  quadrupled  its  increase 
within  ten  years?  I  was  cutting  yearly  some  two  hundred 
tons  of  hay  on  less  than  half  that  number  of  acres,  and 
I  knew  that  if  I  sold  my  cows  I  should,  in  some  way,  be 
obliged  to  get  rid  of  my  hay  and  that  would  mean  dis- 
aster to  the  farm.  There  might  be  no  decrease  in  acres, 
but  there  would  be  a  sad  diminution  in  the  tons  of  hay. 
The  result  is,  I  keep  cows  for  my  own  use.  Have  built 
two  new  barns,  each  one  hundred  feet  long,  the  base- 
ments of  which  are  utilized  for  box  stalls,  accommodat- 
ing sixty  boarding  horses.  These  convert  my  hay  and 
grain  (for  which  I  receive  the  market  price)  into  manure. 
This  is  all  I  expect  and  all  I  get 

A  while  ago  a  gentleman  from  New  York  caught  me 
hoeing  in  my  onion  patch.  He  expressed  his  astonish- 
ment at  the  size  of  the  onions.  (I  now  grow  two 
or  three  hundred  bushels  yearly  to  supply  my  own 
and  neighbors'  wants,  and  just  to  keep  my  hand  in.) 
Said  he:  "Your  land  seems  well  adapted  to  this  crop." 
"Yes,  I  have  some  twenty  or  thirty  acres  that  are  level, 
the  soil  is  easily  worked  and  friable,  not  troubled  much 
with  maggot,  and,  if  properly  handled,  is  about  sure  of 
a  crop."  "Why  don't  you  put  it  all  into  onions?"  "I  can- 


34 

not  afford  to."  "Why,"  said  he,  "if  our  New  York 
farmers  had  that  land  within  twenty  or  thirty  miles  of 
New  York  city  it  would  be  worth  $1,000  an  acre,  and 
they  would  make  it  pay  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  that, 
too,  every  year."  "Possibly  they  could,  but  with  one- 
tenth  of  the  labor  and  capital  employed  I  can  raise  ducks 
enough  on  one  acre  to  buy  all  the  onions  I  can  raise  on 
ten.  If  I  am  going  to  increase  my  capital  and  labor  in 
any  direction  I  should  put  it  into  ducks,  not  onions." 
He  acknowledged  that  perhaps  I  was  right,  but  at  the 
same  time  thought  it  was  poor  economy  to  grow  nothing 
but  hay  on  such  land  as  that. 

The  Muscovy  Duck. 

The  Muscovy  duck  as  its  name  implies  is  a  denizen  ot 
the  Mediterranean  and  is  a  beautiful  bird,  quiet  and  inof- 
fensive in  its  habits,  but  cannot  compare  with  the  Pekin 
either  in  fecundity  or  in  market  value.  It  cannot  be 
induced  to  lay  so  early  in  the  season  as  the  Pekin,  thus 
forfeiting  the  high  Spring  prices.  The  eggs  require 
about  the  same  time  to  incubate  as  the  goose  egg  (five 
weeks)  and  they  do  not  hatch  well  in  an  incubator.  It 
is  some  three  weeks  longer  in  maturing  than  the  Pekin 
and  does  not  command  as  high  a  price  in  the  market  by 
two  cents  per  pound.  I  asked  a  prominent  Boston  mar- 
ket man  yesterday  the  reason  for  it.  He  said  that  the  flesh 
was  coarser  than  that  of  the  Pekin  while  the  disparity 
in  the  size  of  the  sexes  made  them  very  unpopular,  for 
instance,  while  the  drake  will  dress  from  eight  to  ten 
pounds  the  duck  will  rate  but  four  or  five  pounds.  Said 
he,  "I  want  none  of  them."  There  are  two  varieties  of 
this  bird,  white  and  colored. 

The  Indian  Runner  Duck. 

This  bird  is  of  recent  introduction,  and  while  it  can 
never  be  a  first-class  market  bird  on  account  of  its 


35 

small  size  and  dark  pins,  it  has  many  good  points.  Its 
fecundity  is  wonderful.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  bird  that 
will  excel  it  as  an  egg  producer  for  market.  Its  patrons 
are  enthusiastic  in  its  praise  and  claim  an  average  yield 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  to  two  hundred  eggs  per 
year  from  each  of  their  birds,  but  their  small  size,  four 
to  four  and  a  half  pounds,  together  with  their  dark  pins, 
militates  against  their  value  as  a  market  bird.  I  have 
always  emphasized  the  point  that  size  as  well  as  fecun- 
dity is  a  necessary  adjunct  to  a  profitable  market  bird. 
It  is  no  more  trouble  or  risk  to  grow  a  large  bird  than 
a  small  one,  while  the  market  returns  are  often  double. 
The  large  bird  will  always  command  at  least  two  or 
three  cents  per  pound  more  than  a  small  one,  as  well  as 
a  more  ready  sale.  The  Runner  is  a  parti-colored  bird. 

I  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  Pekin  ducks.  They 
not  only  layed  some  weeks  earlier  than  any  other  breed 
I  had  ever  kept,  but  were  precocious,  maturing  earlier 
than  either  of  the  other  breeds,  excepting  the  Cayugas. 
there  being"  but  little  difference  between  the  latter  and 
the  Pekins,  but  the  Pekins  laying  some  weeks  sooner,  it 
gave  us  control  of  the  early  spring  markets,  which  are 
by  far  the  most  profitable  of  the  year. 

Disinfecting. 

My  neighbors  had  become  much  interested  in  the 
business  and  often  visited  me,  and  were  not  backward 
in  giving  their  opinions.  They  predicted  failure  for 
me,  giving  as  reasons  that  the  market  would  soon  be 
glutted  with  so  much  of  that  kind  of  stuff,  for  poultry 
never  could  be  as  good  grown  in  that  unnatural  way, 
and  that  if  I  kept  on  growing  those  ducks  in  the  same 
yard,  year  after  year,  the  land  would  eventually  get 
poisoned,  and  then  disease  would  clean  me  out. 


36 

But  I  had  thought  this  thing  all  over  before  laying 
out  my  yards.  I  knew  that  reversing  land  and  cropping 
it  would  disinfect  it,  so  a  crop  of  ducks  is  always  fol- 
lowed by  a  crop  of  something  else;  and  thus  I  succeed 
each  season  in  getting  two  crops  of  ducks  and  two  crops 
of  either  rye,  barley,  or  oats,  so  that  the  land  has  not 
been  poisoned,  and  is  still  growing  its  complement  of 
large,  fat  ducks  every  year,  and  as  I  have  set  it  to  plum 
trees,  it  is  beginning  to  yield  fine,  luscious  plums. 
Neither  is  the  market  glutted,  as  the  demand  is  far  in 
excess  of  the  supply.  The  way  of  growing  does  not 
seem  to  be  any  objection,  as  the  marketmen  are  willing 
to  pay  me,  at  least,  two  to  four  cents  per  pound  more 
than  they  can  possibly  get  for  those  grown  in  the  natural 
way. 

Perhaps  a  word  here  would  not  be  amiss  regarding 
the  merits  of  artificially  and  naturally-grown  poultry 
for  fancy  and  market  purposes.  This  is  a  vital  question, 
and  it  is  as  well  for  the  public  to  fully  understand  this 
thing  now,  as  well  as  its  origin.  There  is  many  a  per- 
son who  has  been  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  great 
advantages  and  the  economy  of  the  artificial  over  the 
natural  way  of  doing  it,  and  who  would  gladly  have 
started  in  the  business,  but  was  deterred  by  the  pre- 
vailing opinion  that  artificially-grown  birds  were  always 
deficient  in  plumage,  and  could  never  win  at  a  show, 
and  that  the  flesh  was  inferior  for  table  use  and  could 
not  find  a  ready  sale.  It  is  as  well  to  explode  this  thing 
now,  and  expose  its  utter  fallacy.  There  is  not  a  shadow 
of  doubt  but  that  much  poor  poultry  has  been  put  upon 
the  market  by  people  who  have  attempted  its  culture  in 
the  artificial  way  by  growing  hundreds  of  ducks  and 
chicks  in  the  same  limited  space  that  they  formerly  used 
for  a  dozen  with  an  old  hen. 

These,  of  course,  could  not  be  otherwise  than  poor 


37 

and  the  mortality  great.  Another  reason:  the  fancy 
business  in  poultry  is  fast  being  overdone.  The  best 
breeds  are  now  scattered  far  and  wide  over  the  entire 
country.  There  is  not  the  demand  for  them  that  there 
has  been,  because  good  birds  can  be  obtained  nearer 
home.  Many  of  our  old  and  well-known  fanciers  are 
making  frantic  but  vain  efforts  to  keep  their  business  up 
to  its  former  standard.  They  have  suffered  consider- 
ably from  competition  with  artificially-grown  birds,  and 
they  roundly  assert  that  it  is  an  unnatural  method,  that 
the  conditions  are  not  right,  that  it  affects  the  growth 
and  plumage  of  the  bird  in  such  a  manner  as  to  preclude 
its  ever  taking  a  first-class  premium  at  our  shows. 

Now  if  they  can  convince  the  public  that  naturally 
grown  birds  can  capture  premiums,  and  they  grow  all 
their  birds  in  the  natural  way,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  their 
trade  would  be  increased. 

Now,  I  never  could  see  how  the  old  hen  could  impart 
vigor  to  her  chicks  by  imparting  lice,  or  how  the  in- 
creased contributions  of  filth  from  the  old  hen,  united  to 
that  from  the  chicks,  could  ever  make  the  conditions 
more  favorable  than  that  from  the  chicks  alone.  It  can 
no  longer  be  denied  that  the  artificially-grown  fowls  are 
fast  coming  to  the  front, — a  place  which  they  already 
occupy  in  the  market.  Knapp  Bros.,  Fabius,  N.  Y.,  the 
greatest  prize  winners  on  White  Leghorns  in  the  coun- 
try, grow  their  birds  artificially.  We  could  mention 
many  others  who  are  doing  equally  well.  Our  own 
Pekin  ducks  have,  for  many  generations,  been  hatched 
and  grown  artificially,  and  today,  for  size,  symmetry, 
and  beauty  of  plumage  they  stand  unrivaled  in  North 
America.  They  have  won  first  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf, 
and  have  never  been  defeated.  Three  times  during  the 
past  ten  years  we  have  been  obliged  to  enlarge  market 
boxes  to  accommodate  the  increased  size  of  our  birds; 


38 

and  yet  we  have  bred  only  from  our  own  stock.  A  mini 
her  of  times  I  have  procured  winning  birds  at  the  Penn- 
sylvania and  Western  State  Fairs,  with  a  view  to  a  change 
of  blood,  only  to  cast  the  birds  aside  on  their  arrival 
here,  as  I  could  not  breed  from  them  without  deteriorat- 
ing my  flock  in  size.  If  this  is  the  result  of  artificial 
growing  and  of  in-breeding,  I  shall  keep  right  on. 

In-Breeding. 

I  have  always  selected  the  very  choicest  and  best  from 
the  many  I  raised  for  breeding  stock,  and  the  result  has 
been  a  gradual  increase  of  size.  I  have  seen  many  per- 
sons who,  from  a  mistaken  idea  of  introducing  new 
blood,  have  reduced  both  the  size  and  quality  of  their 
stock.  Let  it  be  here  understood  that  a  man  who  keeps 
but  one  drake  and  a  few  ducks  is  breeding-in  fast.  But 
the  one  who  keeps  a  thousand  in  different  yards  can 
breed  many  years  with  impunity,  because  the  interming- 
ling of  blood  is  exactly  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  numbers 
kept.  I  have  repeatedly  heard  prominent  marketmen 
in  New  York  and  Boston  say  that  my  artificially-grown 
poultry,  both  in  chicks  and  ducks,  were  the  best  that  they 
ever  handled I  will  endeavor  to  secure  their  sig- 
natures to  that  effect,  as  convincing  proof  of  this,  as  I 
wish  the  public  to  know  the  truth  as  it  is. 

I  was  then  breeding  Pekins  exclusively,  and  found  the 
business  while  growing  them  was  far  more  profitable 
than  ever  before,  and  accordingly  increased  my  incubat- 
ing and  brooding  capacity,  and  instead  of  growing  1,500 
to  2,000  ducklings,  grew  from  10,000  to  20,000.  This 
was  done  during  the  early  spring  and  summer,  the  ma- 
chines and  brooders  being  used  for  early  chicks  during 
the  winter.  I  had  observed  that,  during  my  experience 
with  chicks,  that  crossing  with  the  best  breeds  always 
made  better  layers  and  better  market  birds  than  either  of 


39 

the  breeds  from  which  they  originated ;  also,  that  the  first 
cross  was  always  the  best,  and  that  continued  breeding 
from  crosses  is  sure  to  deteriorate  both  in  size  and  qual- 
ity. 

Crossing. 

I  conceived  the  idea  of  procuring  some  of  the  best 
stock  possible  of  Rouens,  Aylesburys,  Cayugas,  and 
crossing  them  on  the  Pekins,  with  the  object  of  increas- 
ing the  size  and  precocity.  I  experimented  first  with 
Cayugas,  and  crossed  both  ways,  using  both  Pekin  and 
Cayuga  drakes,  and,  in  order  to  test  the  experiment 
fairly,  the  mongrel  eggs  were  hatched  in  the  same  ma- 
chine, the  young  birds  grown  in  the  same  yards,  sub- 
jected to  the  same  care  and  feed,  with  the  Pekins.  The 
Cayuga  cross  was  very  satisfactory,  with  two  exceptions. 
They  were  fine,  plump  birds,  took  on  fat  readily,  and  ma- 
tured as  early  as  the  Pekins,  while  the  mortality  was  not 
more  than  one  per  cent,  on  either,  but  we  found  that  the 
skin  was  dark,  the  dark  pins,  when  there  were  any,  show- 
ing very  plainly  beneath. 

These  birds  were  sent  to  market  in  the  same  boxes 
with  the  Pekins.  Our  dealers  to  whom  we  shipped  al- 
lowed us  the  same  price  for  them  as  for  the  Pekins,  as 
there  were  but  few  of  them,  but  had  they  all  been  of  that 
color  would  have  been  obliged  to  cut  them  two  cents 
per  pound  on  the  price.  This  was  enough  for  me,  espe- 
cially as  I  found  that  the  feathers  commanded  but  little 
more  than  half  the  price  of  the  pure  white  feathers  of 
the  Pekins. 

The  experiment,  though  conducted  in  the  same  man- 
ner, with  the  Rouens,  was  somewhat  different  in  result. 
There  was  a  great  loss  from  those  mongrels.  They 
evidently  inherited  the  same  weak  constitutions  of  the 
Rouens.  They  had  not  the  vitality  of  the  Pekins,  while 


40 

they  required  at  least  three  weeks  longer  to  mature. 
This  latter  alone  was  sufficient  to  condemn  them  for  all 
market  purposes,  especially  when  subjected  to  the  same 
discount  on  dark  pins  and  feathers  as  the  Cayugas. 
This  was  sufficient  to  discard  both  breeds  for  my  use  as 
market  birds. 

Aylesburys. 

But  I  expected  great  things  from  the  Aylesburys.  I 
procured  the  best  ducks  to  be  had  in  the  country,  while 
I  used  imported  drakes  from  the  best  prize-winners  in 
England,  and  I  have  never  yet  seen  those  drakes 
equaled  in  size;  and  I  was  unusually  careful  in  this  ex- 
periment, because  I  knew  that  the  English  breeders 
claimed  for  their  birds  a  superiority  in  all  the  points 
essential  for  a  good  market  bird,  namely,  delicacy  and 
flavor  of  flesh,  size,  precocity,  and  greater  egg  produc- 
tion,—laying  special  stress  on  their  hardiness  and  vital- 
ity. I  bred  those  birds  clear  and  crossed  them,  care- 
fully noting  the  result.  Our  first  batch  of  Pekins  and 
those  crosses  numbered  about  300,  nearly  equally  di- 
vided. These  were  mixed  and  confined  in  two  yards. 
For  the  first  two  weeks  there  was  no  perceptible  differ- 
ence, when  gradually  the  young  Pekins  began  to  out- 
grow the  crosses,  the  difference  increasing  with  age. 
The  former  were  very  even  in  size,  the  latter  irregular, 
while  tlie  mortality  was  as  six  to  one  in  favor  of  the 
Pekins.  When  we  began  to  kill  those  birds  the  Pekins 
were  all  in  the  market  at  the  end  of  eleven  weeks,  while 
the  crosses  remained  in  the  yards  fully  one  week  be- 
hind. The  weight  was  in  favor  of  the  Pekins  about  one 
pound  per  pair. 

The  same  difficulty  existed  as  in  former  years — the 
tenacity  of  the  feathers.  The  pickers  grumbled,  while 
the  birds  were  more  or  less  disfigured.  I  notified  the 


41 

dealers  of  the  breeds  of  those  ducks,  and  of  the  claim 
made  by  the  English  breeders,  and  wished  them  to  as- 
certain if  possible  if  there  was  any  difference  in  favor  of 
the  Aylesburys.  They  said  their  customers  found  no 
preference,  for  themselves  they  preferred  the  Pekins  on 
account  of  the  larger  size  and  finer  appearance  of  the 
dressed  birds.  But  I  found  it  made  a  vast  deal  more 
difference  than  that  to  me.  One  pound  per  pair  on 
2,000  pairs  of  ducklings,  at  an  average  price  of  twenty- 
five  cents  per  pound,  made  a  difference  of  more  than 
$500  to  me;  especially  the  extra  ten  days  required  to 
mature  the  Aylesburys  cost  more  than  the  feed  for  extra 
pound  of  flesh  grown  upon  the  Pekins.  I  do  not  keep 
Aylesburys  now,  and  have  not  since  that  experiment;  T 
never  shall  again. 

Precocity. 

There  is  one  point  which  I  wish  to  impress,  which  is 
too  often  overlooked,  and  yet  is  of  the  most  vital  im- 
portance to  the  poultry  grower,  and  that  is  the  early  ma- 
turity of  his  market  birds.  I  often  hear  growers  say 
that  as  there  is  very  little  change  in  the  poultry  market 
during  nine  months  of  the  year,  and  as  they  do  not  con- 
tend for  the  early  spring  prices  anyway,  if  their  birds 
are  three  or  four  weeks  longer  in  maturing  it  does  not 
matter.  Does  is  not?  I  have  always  contended  that  it 
requires  just  so  much  to  sustain  life  in  either  bird  or 
animal,  and  the  profit  consists  in  what  we  can  get  them 
to  consume  and  digest  over  and  above  that;  and  if  the 
time  required  to  do  this  is  protracted  longer  than  is  neces- 
sary, it  is  done  at  the  expense  of  the  grower. 

If  it  takes  ten  weeks  to  grow  five  pounds  of  flesh  on 
one  bird  and  fourteen  weeks  on  another  the  one  must 
necessarily  cost  more  than  the  other  per  pound,  simply 
because  you  have  tg  sustain  life  four  weeks  longer  in 


42 

one  case  than  in  the  other,  and  that  cannot  be  done  for 
nothing.  That  is  why,  though  I  can  easily  grow  a 
pound  of  duck  for  six  cents,  I  must  have  eight  cents  to 
grow  a  pound  of  chicken,  because  the  ducks  will  take 
on  six  pounds  of  flesh  in  ten  weeks,  while  the  chicken 
requires  twenty  weeks  to  obtain  the  same  size.  These 
appear  trivial  matters  when  a  person  grows  only  a  few 
dozen  fowls  yearly,  but  when  he  makes  a  life  business 
of  it  and  grows  fowls  by  the  thousands,  it  is  of  the  ut- 
most importance. 

First-Class  Breeding  Stock. 

The  above  shows  the  necessity  of  first-class  breeding 
stock  to  start  with.  I  do  not  mean  fancy  stock  at  all, 
as  many  of  the  points  of  excellence  claimed  by  the 
American  standard  militate  directly  against  the  market 
value  of  the  birds.  A  few  years  ago  several  men  came 
here  to  buy  Pekin  ducks  for  breeding  stock.  On  look- 
ing at  the  birds  and  getting  the  price,  one  man  said: 
'Those  are  the  best  birds  I  ever  saw.  I  want  thirty  of 
the  best  birds  you  have."  Another  said:  "They  are  fine 
birds,  but  I  cannot  afford  to  pay  two  dollars  for  a  duck; 
have  you  no  cheaper  birds?"  "Yes,  I  have  some  later 
birds — culls  from  which  the  rest  have  been  selected. 
They  are  not  as  large  as  these.  My  late  birds  never 
attain  the  size  of  the  earlier-hatched  ones,  and  they  will 
not  lay  quite  as  early.  You  can  have  your  choice  of 
these  at  one  dollar  each,  which  is  about  their  market 
value." 

He  took  those  birds,  and  I  consider  when  he  made 
that  choice  that  he  threw  away  more  than  $100  of  his 
first  season's  work  alone,  for,  with  a  fair  share  of  suc- 
cess he  might  easily  expect  to  raise  100  young  birds 
from  each  of  his  breeding  ducks,  and  as  the  birds  he 
chose  were  at  least  one-third  lighter  than  those  he  re- 


43 

jected,  their  progeny  would  not  be  as  heavy  at  a  market- 
able age  by  at  least  one  pound  per  bird.  The  excess  in 
cost  to  him,  had  he  bought  the  better  birds,  would  have 
been  but  one  cent  on  each  of  the  young  birds  he  raised. 
He  lost,  on  making  the  choice  he  did,  more  than  twenty 
cents  on  each  bird,  and  this  is  not  all ;  those  birds  will  be 
small  for  generations  to  come.  He  never  can  get  them 
up  to  the  standard  of  the  others.  They  will  go  upon 
the  market  as  small  birds,  and  as  such,  command  at  least 
two  cents  per  pound  less  than  the  larger  ones;  in  fact, 
his  losses  in  this  transaction  will  represent  a  large  share 
of  the  profits. 

How  to  Begin. 

I  will  now  suppose  that  the  breeder  has  secured  his 
stock,  erected  his  building,  and  is  ready  for  business. 
The  next  thing  is  to  feed  them  well,  keep  them  warm 
and  comfortable,  giving  them  as  great  a  variety  of  green 
food  as  is  obtainable  during  the  winter  months,  in  order 
to  induce  winter  laying  and  insure  fertility  of  the  eggs. 
This  matter  requires  close  attention,  because  the  profits 
in  one  week  of  the  early  market  will  always  equal  the 
profits  in  four  or  five  of  the  late.  The  proportion  of  the 
sexes  in  the  early  spring  should  be  about  one  drake  to 
five  or  six  ducks. 

One  point  here  I  wish  to  emphasize  particularly  and 
that  is  in  the  selection  of  drakes.  The  drakes  should  be, 
at  least,  twro  months  older  than  the  ducks,  as  the  latter 
will  mature  some  two  or  three  months  earlier  and  begin 
their  egg  production  two  or  three  months  before  the 
drakes  are  ready  for  breeding.  As  a  consequence,  we 
always  select  our  February  hatched  drakes  for  breeding 
purposes. 

This  comes  a  little  hard,  as  these  birds  will  average  to 
dress  seven  to  nine  pounds  at  ten  weeks  old  and  will 


44 

always  bring,  at  least,  300  per  pound  at  that  time  in  the 
market,  making  them  worth  about  $2.50  each.  Would- 
be  purchasers  think  we  are  crazy  when  we  charge  $3 
each  for  these  birds  at  eight  months  old,  expecting  us  to 
keep  them  for  six  months  and  coop  them  for  less  than 
fifty  cents. 

Now  this  selection  of  early  hatched  birds  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  good  profits,  as  early  hatched,  means  early 
reproduction  and  these  great  profits  can  hardly  be  ig- 
nored. We  sold  thousands  of  birds  the  past  spring  for 
3Oc  per  pound,  having  almost  complete  control  of  Bos- 
ton and  New  York  markets  for  at  least  six  weeks. 

Later  in  the  season,  when  many  of  the  ducks  are  off 
duty  from  a  desire  to  incubate,  the  proportion  should  be 
about  one  drake  to  ten  ducks.  Be  particular  about  this, 
as  the  eggs  will  be  much  more  fertile  if  a  part  of  the 
drakes  are  removed.  The  feeding  boxes  should  be 
long  and  roomy;  mine  are  6x7  feet  long,  eight  inches 
wide  and  three  inches  high.  This  is  essential,  as  the 
birds  are  rapid  eaters,  and  if  there  is  not  room,  some  will 
gorge  themselves  to  repletion,  while  others  will  get  but 
little.  Do  not  keep  food  by  them,  as  that  will  clog  their 
appetites,  and  always  effects  the  egg  production,  as  well 
as  the  condition  of  the  birds. 

Keep  the  Feed  Clean. 

I  have  often  visited  poultry  establishments  where  the 
food  was  lying  around  in  all  conditions, — in  troughs,  on 
the  ground,  trodden  upon,  mixed  with  excrement  and 
filth;  had  become  sour  and  offensive,  so  that  the  birds 
would  not  eat  it.  The  attendant  would  go  his  rounds 
periodically  and  throw  more  food  upon  the  already 
offensive  mass;  the  owner  looking  on,  passively  com- 
plaining that  his  ducks  did  not  lay  and  his  ducklings 
would  not  fat. 


45 

1  require  my  men  to  go  the  rounds  after  feeding,  and 
if  there  is  any  food  left,  to  take  it  up  clean.  If  this  is 
insisted  on  they  will  soon  learn  to  feed  just  what  is  re- 
quired and  no  more.  Clean  feeding  is  of  the  utmost 
importance,  both  for  young  and  old  birds,  as  neither 
will  thrive  from  overfeeding,  as  it  destroys  the  appetite 
completely.  Another  essential  thing  is  that  ducks  will 
not  produce  their  proper  quota  of  fertile  eggs  on  hard 
food  alone. 

The  natural  food  of  the  duck  is  principally  vegetable 
and  animal,  and  is  obtained  in  brooks,  puddles,  swales, 
and  consists  of  flag,  grass  roots,  small  fish,  pollywogs, 
etc.  Unlike  the  hen,  the  duck  has  no  crop, — the  passage 
or  duct  leading  from  the  throat  to  gizzard  direct,  is  very 
small  compared  to  the  size  of  the  bird.  Consequently 
it  does  not  assimilate  or  thrive  on  hard  food.  I  am  con- 
tinually receiving  letters  from  amateurs  during  the 
months  of  March  and  April,  complaining  that  their 
ducks  do  not  lay,  at  the  same  time  saying  that  they  give 
them  all  the  corn  they  will  eat.  I  write  back  suggesting 
soft  food,  giving  ingredients  and  proportions.  In  an 
incredibly  short  space  of  time  a  postal  will  come  to 
hand  saying,  "Thanks,  my  ducks  are  all  laying."  Suc- 
cess or  failure  in  the  poultry  business  often  date  their 
origin  from  just  such  trivial  things  as  the  above.  So 
insignificant  in  themselves  as  to  be  entirely  overlooked 
by  the  novice  who,  if  he  is  persevering,  will  eventually 
discover  both  cause  and  remedy;  but  only  through  years 
of  costly  experiment  and  a  loss  of  valuable  time  which 
he  can  never  recall. 

How  to  Feed  Breeding  Ducks  for  Eggs. 

There  should  be  quite  a  distinction  between  feeding 
ducks  to  obtain  a  supply  of  eggs  and  feeding  them  for 


46 

market,  as  in  one  case  the  object  is  to  lay  on  fat  and  the 
other  is  to  furnish  the  most  available  supply  of  egg 
material.  As  beiore  hinted,  soft  food  is  much  more 
readily  utilized  in  a  duck's  organization  than  a  hen's. 
We  make  a  habit  of  turning  out  our  breeding  ducKs  to 
pasture  during  the  moulting  season,  housing  them  in 
the  fall  according  to  the  nature  of  the  season,  say,  from 
the  middle  of  November  to  the  hrst  of  December.  We 
feed  soft  food  morning  and  evening  composed  largely  of 
bran  with  a  little  meal,  keeping  them  purposely  short  to 
induce  them  to  forage  tor  themselves,  but  when  the  birds 
are  housed  this  is  all  changed. 

They  are  then  fed  on  equal  parts  of  corn  meal,  wheat- 
bran  and  low-grade  flour,  with  about  twelve  or  fifteen 
per  cent,  of  animal  food.  One  fourth  of  this  food  should 
be  composed  of  vegetables  cooked — say,  small  potatoes, 
turnips,  etc.,  with  all  the  green  rye  and  refuse  cabbage 
they  will  eat.  We  feed  this  compound  morning  and  even- 
ing with  a  little  corn,  wheat  and  oats  at  noon.  Feed  all 
the  birds  will  eat  clean  and  no  more.  The  birds,  young 
and  old,  may  be  expected  to  lay  in  three  weeks  from  the 
time  they  are  housed.  This  part  of  the  thing  seems  to 
be  under  perfect  control.  You  turn  in  the  proper  var- 
iety of  food  and  they  cannot  help  turning  out  a  generous 
supply  of  eggs. 

The  fertility  however,  cannot,  at  this  season  of  the  year 
be  so  perfectly  controlled,  as  the  standard  of  fertility  in 
the  first  eggs  is  apt  to  be  very  low,  but  soon  comes  to  a 
high  point.  The  fecundity  of  these  birds  is  wonderful. 
As  a  general  thing  each  bird  can  be  depended  upon  for 
140  eggs  each  season,  and  as  the  eggs  always  command 
from  5  to  10  cents  per  dozen  more  than  those  from  hens 
it  makes  the  Pekin  ducks  more  profitable  for  eggs  alone 
than  any  other  fowl. 


47 
Incubators. 

With  the  necessary  buildings  constructed  and  the  stock 
selected,  the  next  thing  required  is  the  incubator,  for  I 
do  not  suppose  the  modern  poultry  grower  is  going  to 
do  his  incubating  with  hens,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
he  cannot  afford  to.  Hens  show  no  desire  to  incubate 
when  you  want  them  to  the  most,  or  in  time  to  command 
the  high  prices  for  ducks  and  chicks  in  the  early  spring, 
and  this  is  attended  with  a  loss  of  at  least  one-half  of  the 
season's  profits. 

I  often  have  letters  filled  with  questions  concerning 
incubators.  Which  is  the  best  incubator?  Can  a  per- 
rson  of  ordinary  intelligence  run  one  successfully?  Do 
they  require  watching  during  the  night?  Is  there  an 
incubator  in  the  market  today  that  will  hatch  as  well 
as  the  average  hen?  and  many  more  of  like  import.  To 
the  first  I  would  say  that  modesty  forbids  a  candid  an- 
swer. There  are  objections  to  many  machines,  though 
the  same  do  not  apply  to  all.  It  does  not  become  me 
to  mention  their  failings.  But  first  of  all  do  not  buy  a 
cheap  incubator,  as  the  conditions  to  which  the  material 
of  an  incubator  is  exposed  are  of  the  severest  kind.  It 
must  be  exposed  constantly  to  a  temperature  of  103 
degrees,  and  that  in  an  atmosphere  surcharged  with 
moisture;  and  unless  the  material  of  which  the  machine 
is  constructed  is  of  the  choicest  kind,  well  kiln-dried  and 
put  together,  the  chances  are  that  it  will  warp  out  of 
shape,  admit  draffs  of  air  and  injure,  if  not  destroy,  the 
regulation. 

I  do  not  think  an  incubator  can  ever  be  complete  un- 
less it  is  a  double-cased  machine.  It  requires  that  to 
effectually  resist  thermal  changes.  Years  of  careful  ex- 
periment, and  of  experience  in  the  competitive  show 
room,  have  convinced  me  of  the  truth  of  this.  Extreme 
cold  will  affect  the  uniformity  of  heat  in  the  egg-cham- 


48 

her  of  single-cased  machines.  Imagine  if  you  can  a 
single-cased  machine  constructed  of  five-eighth  inch 
stuff,  with  a  temperature  of  103  degrees  inside,  and  that 
of  freezing  outside.  How  can  the  eggs  at  the  extreme 
corners  and  the  thin  cold  sides  of  that  machine  be  as 
warm  as  those  in  the  centre?  Of  course  that  difference 
does  not  exist  in  warm  weather,  but  that  is  the  time 
when  incubators  are  usually  let  alone  and  the  business 
is  given  up  to  the  old  hen.  Now,  I  say  this  frankly,  as 
much  for  the  benefit  of  incubator  manufacturers  as  for 
their  customers.  I  have  letters  every  day  from  parties 
ordering  circulars  and  saying  that  they  have  used  from 
one  to  three  machines  of  different  makes,  denouncing 
the  machines  arid  their  makers  in  the  most  emphatic 
terms  as  frauds.  Now,  this  is  all  wrong;  one-half 
of  the  time  you  will  find  that  it  is  the  purchasers,  not  the 
makers,  who  are  at  fault.  There  are  probably  just  as 
many  honest  incubator  makers  as  there  are  in  any  other 
branch  of  business.  But  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  man 
being  honest  and  yet  ignorant. 

Many  of  the  manufacturers  of  incubators  know  very 
little  about  the  first  principles  of  artifical  incubation. 
They  have  the  idea  that  a  simple  heat  regulator  is  all 
that  is  necessary  to  insure  the  success  of  an  incubator, 
when  in  reality  it  is  only  one  of  the  many  requirements. 
I  will  enumerate  some  of  the  most  essential  points,  viz.: 
heat  regulation ;  uniformity  of  heat  in  egg-chamber ; 
absolute  control  of  heat  by  the  operator  on  any  given 
egg-tray;  automatic  moisture  supply;  accurate  ther- 
mometers; thorough  construction  and  good  material  to 
avoid  warping  and  shrinkage,  together  with  a  safe  lamp 
adjustment. 

There  are  many  other  minor  points  which  will  come 
up  with  care  of  machines.  I  am  often  asked,  "Why  do 
so  manv  fail  to  hatch  with  incubators?"  I  will  answer 


49 

by  saying:  "Not  because  it  is  difficult;  for  I  have  always 
found  it  a  far  more  difficult  thing  to  grow  ducks  and 
chicks  successfully  after  they  are  hatched,  than  it  is  to 
hatch  them."  Doubtless  everyone  knows  that  an  incu- 
bator, different  from  other  machines,  must  run  three 
weeks  continually  night  and  day,  (and  when  filled  with 
duck  eggs,  four  weeks,)  and  preserve  an  even  tempera- 
ture all  the  while. 

Some  machines  as  described  above,  are  not  adapted  to 
this  business,  and  some  men  are  not  adapted  to  the  use 
of  machines  even  when  they  are  good  ones.  They  are 
not  willing  to  bestow  the  little  but  intelligent  and  regu- 
lar care  required,  and  many  times  during  the  four  weeks 
they  will  forget  some  of  the  most  essential  points,  such 
as  replenishing  their  lamps,  or  forget  to  attach  the  ex- 
tinguishers, thus  depriving  the  machine  of  all  self-con- 
trol, or  they  neglect  to  trim  the  lamps  for  days,  and  per- 
haps a  week,  allowing  the  wick  to  crust  and  the  heat  to 
decrease.  Others  of  nervous  temperament  will  open 
their  machines  every  fifteen  minutes  during  the  day  and 
get  up  many  times  during  the  night  to  do  the  same  thing, 
necessarily  creating  a  great  variation  in  the  temperature 
of  the  machine.  Now,  all  these,  when  repeated  often 
enough,  mean  disaster  and  grief.  One  man  who  had 
been  very  successful,  said  he  liked  the  hatching  very 
well,  but  there  was  too  much  confinement  growing 
chicks  and  ducks,  and  he  was  not  going  to  make  a 
slave  of  himself  any  longer. 

Another  very  young  man  who  has  been  uniformly 
successful,  and  is  running  four  large  machines,  said  that 
the  hatching  and  care  of  incubators  was  nothing,  as  he 
simply  looked  at  his  machines  twice  per  day,  but  that 
the  care  of  chicks  and  ducks  was  hard  work;  but  there 
was  more  money  in  it  than  anything  else  he  could  do, 
and  he  should  stick  to  it,  Another  man,  because  his 


50 

machine  did  not  rim  to  suit  him,  threw  his  boot  at  it, 
knocking  the  regulation  all  off,  which  he  called  upon  me 
to  duplicate.  (This  man  has  done  better  since  and  in- 
creased the  number  of  his  machines).  So  the  reader 
will  see  that  there  are  cranks  even  among  the  poultry 
men,  and  that  many  of  them  enter  the  poultry  business 
simply  because  they  are  looking  for  an  easy  job, — a  sad 
mistake  on  their  part.  I  have  always  noticed  that  the 
man  who  knows  the  least,  but  is  willing  to  acquire 
knowledge  and  follow  instructions  implicity,  is  the  man 
who  generally  succeeds. 

Best  Place  for  Incubators. 

Having  secured  a  good  machine,  the  next  thing  is  to 
locate  it  where  it  will  give  you  the  least  trouble  to  run 
it,  and  at  the  same  time  do  you  the  most.  good.  The  best 
place  for  this  is  either  in  a  barn  or  house  cellar  or  in 
some  building  partly  under  ground,  for  obvious  rea- 
sons. Though  a  good  machine  can  be  regulated  to  run 
in  any  temperature  (provided  it  can  generate  heat 
enough),  yet  constant  thermal  changes  of  30  or 
40  degrees  between  night  and  day  will  necessitate  regu- 
lating to  meet  them, — as  the  amount  of  flame  required 
to  run  a  machine  in  a  temperature  of  40  degrees,  will  be 
far  in  excess  of  that  needed  to  run  it  in  one  of  70  degrees, 
for,  though  the  change  will  be  very  slow  in  a  nicely 
packed  double  cased  machine,  yet  in  time  even  that 
change  will  affect. 

This,  of  course,  could  be  easily  overcome  with  a  little 
care,  yet  it  is  just  as  well  to  avoid  all  unnecessary  care 
and  trouble  in  the  beginning;  there  will  be  still  enough 
left  to  keep  you  thinking.  In  a  common  building  above 
ground  during  the  winter  months  it  will  often  freeze 
around  your  machine,  and  in  turning  eggs  in  a  freezing 
atmosphere  do  it  as  quickly  as  you  can,  as  it  will  always 


51 

cool  your  eggs  perceptibly,  and  more  or  less  derange 
the  temperature  of  your  machine.  This  is  of  course  de- 
cidedly injurious  and  will  more  or  less  impair  the  hatch. 
i\ow,  this  is  a  very  important  matter,  and  people  do  not 
give  it  sufficient  consideration. 

It  is  even  advocated  by  some  incubator  manufactur- 
ers, that  eggs  should  be  cooled  every  day  to  70  degrees, 
lor  the  simple  reason  that  the  old  hen  does.  They  do 
not  take  into  consideration  that  it  is  a  necessity  for  the 
old  hen,  but  may  not  be  for  the  embryo  chick.  When 
the  hen  leaves  her  eggs  to  feed,  and  they  become  par- 
tially cold,  when  she  recovers  them  and  brings  those 
eggs  in  immediate  contact  with  the  rapidly-pulsating 
arteries  of  her  body,  in  fifteen  minutes  they  have  ac- 
quired their  normal  heat.  With  the  machine  it  will  re- 
quire an  hour  or  two. 

To  meet  this  difficulty,  suitable  instructions  should  be 
given  with  and  to  suit  different  machines.  Where  the 
eggs  are  turned  automatically  inside  the  machine,  it  is 
necessary  that  they  should  be  cooled  at  least  once  a  day 
during  the  last  two  weeks  of  the  hatch.  Taking  the  eggs 
out  to  turn  twice  each  day,  as  in  the  Monarch,  cools 
them  sufficiently  during  the  winter  months;  in  warm 
weather,  leaving  the  outside  and  inside  doors  open  while 
turning  cools  them  sufficiently. 

Some  incubator  manufacturers  will  tell  you  that  ther- 
mal changes,  however  great,  will  not  affect  their  ma- 
chines. Their  patrons  tell  a  different  story.  No  ma- 
chine was  ever  made,  or  ever  will  be,  that  will  run  as 
well  or  give  as  good  results  amid  constant  thermal 
changes  as  in  an  even  temperature.  It  is  true  that  they 
reduce  the  heat,  but  it  is  by  admitting  large  draughts  of 
air,  running  off  the  moisture  and  completely  destroying 
the  humidity  of  atmosphere  in  their  machines.  Then, 
how  about  those  little  ducklings  which  have  been  pipped 


52 

forty-eight  hours?     They  can  never  get  out  unless  you 
help  them. 

Suitable  Buildings. 

Many  insurance  companies  object  to  incubators  being 
run  in  buildings  covered  by  their  policies,  and  will  often 
cancel  them.  This  originated  from  the  fact  that  so 
many  fire-traps,  which  were  thrust  upon  the  public  in  the 
shape  of  incubators,  had  consumed  the  buildings  in 
which  they  were  operated.  The  insurance  companies 
were  obliged  in  self-defence  to  prohibit  their  use  in  in- 
sured buildings.  But  the  interdiction  is  usually  re- 
moved upon  the  representation  that  the  machine  is  safe. 
Sometimes  a  slight  premium  is  exacted.  In  the  event 
of  insurance  companies  being  obdurate,  it  is  very  easy 
to  excavate  a  place  in  a  side  hill,  or  on  level  ground. 
Stone  it  up  five  feet  high  at  the  sides.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  dig  more  than  two  or  three  feet  deep,  as  the 
excavated  dirt  can  be  used  to  bank  up  with  on  the  out- 
side. Upon  this  stone-work  put  a  simple  roof.  I  use  a 
building  of  this  description.  The  original  cost,  exclu- 
sive of  labor,  was  $15.  It  was  large  enough  for  two  ma- 
chines. My  new  incubator  room  is  ten  times  as  large, 
but  the  cosf  was  in  proportion. 

This  building  never  freezes  in  winter,  and  is  always 
some  ten  or  fifteen  degrees  colder  than  the  outside  tem- 
perature in  summer,  making  a  very  handy  place  to  keep 
eggs  for  incubating  purposes.  It  is  well  to  run  your 
machine  a  few  days  and  get  the  control  of  it.  The  next 
thing  is  to  fill  it  with  fresh  fertile  eggs.  In  the  winter 
time,  if  one  does  not  have  eggs  himself,  this  is  some- 
times a  very  difficult  thing  to  do,  for  the  eggs  must  not 
only  be  fresh,  but  fertile.  The  young  beginner  is  often 
obliged  to  depend  upon  others  for  his  eggs  when  first 
starting  in  the  business,  but  the  poulterer,  as  a  rule, 


54 

cannot  afford  to  do  this,  because  he  can  grow  them  a 
good  deal  cheaper  than  he  can  buy;  and  not  only  this, 
and  what  is  more  to  the  point,  he,  by  proper  care  and 
feed  during  the  winter  months,  can  make  his  own  eggs 
a  great  deal  more  fertile  than  any  he  can  buy  of  others. 
Usually  about  one-third  of  our  novices  go  right  to  the 
stores  and  purchase  eggs  to  fill  their  machines  with. 

This  is  running  a  great  risk,  especially  during  the  win- 
ter months,  but  will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the 
amount  of  knowledge  that  many  of  our  would-be  poultry 
men  have  acquired  to  begin  with,  and  when  he  knows 
that  the  incubator  has  to  shoulder  all  these  mistakes,  he 
will  naturally  have  a  little  sympathy  for  the  maker. 
Several  years  ago  I  sold  a  six  hundred-egg  machine  to  a 
lady,  who,  on  receiving  it,  filled  it  promptly  with  eggs 
obtained  from  the  grocers.  Now,  as  this  was  in  the 
month  of  December,  it  was,  to  say  the  least,  an  ex- 
ceedingly doubtful  operation.  As  she  only  got  about 
forty  chicks  she  was  naturally  very  much  dissatisfied, 
and  strongly  denounced  both  the  machine  and  the  ma- 
ker. Her  husband  suggested  that  possibly  the  machine 
was  not  to  blame,  and  that  the  eggs  might  have  some- 
thing to  do  with  it.  They  went  to  the  grocer  to  enquire 
about  it.  He  told  them  that  he  had  had  some  of  those 
eggs  on  hand  for  several  weeks,  and  that  they  had  been 
exposed  to  the  cold  and  freezing  weather,  and  that  prob- 
ably the  farmers  from  whom  he  had  obtained  them  had 
held  them  for  high  prices. 

They  found  on  enquiry  that  this  was  the  case,  and  one 
party  especially,  who  kept  a  large  number  of  hens,  and 
from  whom  he  had  collected  the  largest  share  of  his 
eggs,  kept  no  "crowers"  with  his  hens.  This  threw 
some  light  on  the  subject,  and  stock  on  that  incubator 
went  up  at  once.  The  next  time  she  had  parties  save 
.their  eggs  for  her,  taking  them  in  several  times  each 


55 

day.  She  then  obtained  a  hatch  of  ninety  per  cent,  and 
was  uniformity  successful  afterwards,  getting  out  some 
3,000  chicks  and  ducks  during  the  season  with  her  ma- 
chine. 

How  to  Keep  "Eggs  for  Incubation.! 

The  above  is  only  one  case  out  of  many  that  are  con- 
stantly taking  place.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  failure 
with  good  machines  may  be  traced  directly  to  the  oper- 
ator or  the  eggs.  Occasionally  there  is  a  defect  in  a 
machine  overlooked  by  the  maker,  which  he  is  in  honor 
bound  to  make  good. 

The  best  way  to  secure  good  eggs  is  to  engage  them 
beforehand  from  reliable  parties,  who  will  gather  them 
carefully  several  times  each  day  in  cold  weather  to  pre- 
vent them  chilling,  and  turn  them  at  least  every  other 
day.  If  these  eggs  are  kept  on  end  it  is  not  necessary 
to  turn  them  as  often. 

I  have  egg  boxes  for  the  purpose,  in  which  the  eggs 
are  set  on  end,  like  the  common  market  box.  These 
boxes  and  contents  can  be  turned  as  readily  with  a  dozen 
as  when  full.  Eggs  intended  for  incubation  should  al- 
ways be  kept  in  a  cool  place, — duck  eggs  especially, — 
as  the  fertile  eggs  will  change  at  a  temperature  of  eighty- 
five  to  ninety  degrees,  and  spoil  within  three  or  four 
days.  One  may  safely  calculate  on  one-half  of  them 
being  spoiled  in  a  week  at  a  temperature  of  80  degrees. 
All  kinds  of  eggs  can  be  safely  kept  three  weeks  for  pur- 
poses of  incubation,  say,  at  forty-five  to  fifty  degrees, 
though  I  always  like  to  have  them  as  fresh  as  possible. 

In  filling  orders  for  eggs  at  a  distance  I  make  it  a 
point  never  to  send  eggs  more  than  four  days  old,  or 
with  less  than  seventy-five  per  cent  of  fertility.  Trans- 
portation, even  over  rough  roads,  does  not  affect  their 
hatching,  except  in  extreme  warm  weather,  when  the 


56 

contents,  becoming  thin  and  slightly  evaporated  through 
the  heat,  are  apt  to  mix,  when  they  will  surely  cloud  and 
rot.  I  have  often  sent  eggs  2,000  miles,  with  the  report 
that  every  egg  produced  a  duckling.  With  machine 
ready  and  running  steadily  the  eggs  may  be  introduced 
at  once.  They  need  no  moisture  now,  and  it  is  not  nec- 
essary to  disturb  them  for  the  first  forty-eight  hours. 

How  to  Choose  and  Use  Thermometers. 

Place  your  thermometer  on  the  eggs  in  middle  of 
egg-tray.  Be  sure,  in  the  first  place,  that  you  get  a 
good  glass,  as  all  depends  upon  its  accuracy.  Do  not 
use  one  with  the  mercury  bulb  lying  upon  a  solid  metal 
plate,  as  the  refraction  of  heat  upon  the  plate  from  the 
tank  above  will  always  run  that  glass  one  or  two  degrees 
higher  than  the  heat  in  the  egg-chamber,  but  get  one,  if 
possible,  with  a  hole  in  the  plate  opposite  the  bulb,  so 
that  the  heat  can  play  around  the  bulb  and  through  the 
plate,  giving  the  correct  heat  of  eggs  and  chamber.  Do 
not  hang  your  glass  up  over  the  eggs,  or  put  it  down 
between  the  eggs,  but  lay  it  on  them,  for  the  reason  that, 
though  either  of  these  positions  may  be  all  right  during 
the  first  twelve  days  of  the  hatch  (if  your  eggs  are  fer- 
tile), they  will  surely  be  all  wrong  during  the  last  part. 

I  will  endeavor  to  explain  this  thing,  so  that  the  novice 
will  understand  how  important  it  is.  Before  circulation 
begins  in  the  embryo  chick  or  duck,  and  there  is  no 
animal  heat  in  the  egg,  the  temperature  of  the  egg 
chamber  regulates  that  of  the  eggs.  But  after  circula- 
tion begins,  and  especially  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
hatch,  when  the  rapidly-developing  young  bird  throws 
out  a  great  deal  of  heat,  the  thing  is  often  completely 
reversed.  For  instance,  a  glass  may  be  hung  one  inch 
above  the  eggs  and  another  placed  immediately  on  the 
eggs  beneath,  The  one  above  may  register  102  degrees; 


57 

the  one.  below,  on  the  eggs,  will  register  105  degrees, 
—conclusively  showing  that  the  eggs  are  now,  by  their 
own  caloric,  heating  the  egg-chamber. 

I  have  often,  during  the  last  part  of  a  hatch,  when  the 
thermometer  was  •  ranging  from  70  to  80  degrees 
outside  of  machine,  placed  a  glass  on  the  hottest  part  of 
the  boiler,  where  but  one  lamp  was  dimly  burning,  care- 
fully covering  the  glass.  In  that  position  it  would  regis- 
ter perhaps  96  to  98  degrees,  while  a  glass  inside 
the  machine,  and  on  the  eggs,  would  register  103  de- 
grees, proving  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  eggs,  by  their 
own  caloric,  were  not  only  heating  the  egg-chamber, 
but  contributing  their  quota  towards  heating  the  water 
in  the  tank.  Now,  who  will  pretend  to  say  that  a  glass 
hanging  above  the  eggs  will  give  the  correct  heat  of  the 
egg  after  circulation  begins.  So  that,  even  in  cold 
weather,  the  amount  of  oil  consumed  during  the  last 
week  of  the  hatch  is  less  than  half  the  amount  required 
during  the  first  part. 

The  operator  must  not  expect  the  eggs  to  heat  up  at 
once.  On  the  contrary,  they  will  cool  the  air  in  the 
egg-chamber  very  sensibly,  though  they  will  not  affect 
the  heat  of  the  water  in  the  tank.  It  will  be  from  five 
to  eight  hours  before  they  arrive  at  their  normal  heat. 

How  to  Turn  Eggs. 

At  the  end  of  forty-eight  hours  they  may  be  turned. 
This  should  be  done  by  gathering  up  the  eggs  at  the  end 
of  egg-tray  and  placing  them  upon  the  eggs  in  centre  of 
the  tray,  rolling  the  centre  ones  back  to  the  end  of  the 
tray.  The  tray  should  be  reversed,  and  the  same  thing 
done  to  the  other  end.  It  is  not  necessary  that  the  eggs 
should  be  completely  reversed, — simply  change  the 
position,  rolling  over  one-half  or  one-third. 

The  egg-trays  should  always  be  turned  end  for  end, 


58 

and  changed  from  end  to  centre  of  machine.  This  is 
necessary  in  case  there  should  not  be  a  uniform  heat  in 
egg-chamber,  as  it  will  equalize  matters,  and,  in  a  mea- 
sure, obviate  the  difficulty.  Now,  all  this,  though  it 
takes  some  time  to  describe  it,  can  be  done  very  quickly, 
requiring  only  a  few  moments  for  each  machine.  I 
usually  allow  about  ten  minutes  for  each  1,000  eggs, 
though  it  can  be  done  much  quicker  if  one  is  in  a  hurry. 
I  am  often  requested  by  people  to  put  in  patent  auto- 
matic egg-turning  trays  in  my  machines,  it  would  so 
simplify  matters.  I  reply: 

"So  it  would;  and  when  you  can  produce  a  machine 
with  a  perfect  uniformity  of  heat  in  the  egg-chamber,  I 
should  be  most  happy  to  use  an  automatic  tray,  but  I 
have  never  yet  seen  that  machine."  In  our  own  double- 
cased  Monarch,  in  cold  weather,  there  is  at  least  one 
degree  difference  between  the  end  and  centre  of  egg-tray. 
In  single-cased  machines  this  difference  must  be  largely 
increased,  and  in  automatic  trays  the  eggs  must  neces- 
sarily remain  where  they  are  placed  through  the  entire 
hatch.  Now,  under  these  conditions,  if  the  heat  is  right 
in  the  centre  of  trays,  .it  must  be  all  wrong  in  the  ends. 
The  hatch  will  be  protracted  long  after  the  proper  time, 
and  if  those  on  the  ends  of  trays  come  out  at  all  it  will 
be  forty-eight  hours  behind  time  and  with  weakened 
constitutions,  keeping  one  in  constant  stir  with  their 
sickly  plaints.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  there  is  a  great 
mortality  among  birds  of  that  description,  and  at  the 
end  of  ten  days  they  are  usually  among  the  things  that 
were. 

Hatching  the  Eggs. 

The  next  thing  is  testing  the  eggs.  This  matter  is 
essential  as  well  as  economical,  with  both  hens  and  in- 
cubators. I  once  knew  a  man  who  ran  a  six  hundred-egg 


59 

machine  for  three  weeks  on  one  fertile  egg.  The  other 
599  proved  infertile,  and  he  did  not  know  it  until  they 
refused  to  hatch  at  the  end  of  three  weeks — a  great 
waste  of  oil,  but  a  greater  waste  of  time, — three  whole 
weeks  in  the  best  part  of  the  season.  Another  man 
kept  forty  hens  sitting  three  weeks  with  an  average  of 
one  fertile  egg  to  each  bird,  when  three  of  them  could 
have  done  all  the  hatching  just  as  well,  and  then,  at  the 
end  of  four  days,  could  have  had  the  rest  put  upon  bet- 
ter eggs. 

A  great  waste  of  hen  power,  you  will  say,  with  time 
lost,  together  with  forty  dozen  eggs,  which  would  have 
been  just  as  good  for  table  use  had  they  been  tested  out 
in  four  days.  It  often  happens  in  the  winter,  when  eggs 
are  apt  to  be  infertile,  that,  after  testing  the  contents  of 
four  trays,  they  can  be  contained  in  three,  when  the  other 
can  be  rilled  with  fresh  eggs.  Here  is  where  the  ad- 
vantage of  adjustable  trays  conies  in.  Often  the  opera- 
tor running  a  large  machine  has  not  eggs  enough  to  fill 
it  without  a  part  of  the  eggs  becoming  very  old,  and  also 
losing  ten  or  twelve  days  of  valuable  time;  with  the  ad- 
justable tray,  eggs  can  be  introduced  at  any  time,  and 
the  same  heat  preserved  on  all.  I  usually  test  duck  eggs 
at  the  end  of  the  third  day.  The  fertile  germ  is  then 
plainly  visible,  and  the  eggs  can  be  passed  before  the 
light,  several  at  a  time. 

The  novice  had  better  postpone  the  operation  till  the 
fourth  day,  when  he,  too,  will  have  no  trouble  in  detect- 
ing the  germ.  The  same  rule  will  hold  good  with  all 
white  eggs,  but  dark-brown  eggs  should  not  be  tested 
till  the  sixth  or  seventh  day.  This  can  be  done  much 
sooner,  but  a  large  machine  full  cannot  be  tested  in  a 
minute,  and  the  eggs  should  be  far  enough  advanced  so 
that  the  operator  can  take  two  or  three  in  his  hand  at 
once,  and  passing  them  before  the  flame,  readily  detect 


60 

the  germ.  I  never  use  a  tester  for  duck  eggs,  as  a 
simple  flame  is  sufficient,  the  egg  being  translucent. 

During  the  first  stages  of  incubation  the  germ  is  very 
distinct,  even  at  the  third  day.  The  clear  eggs  are  re- 
served for  family  use  or  disposed  of  to  bakers.  An  ex- 
pert cannot  distinguish  them  from  a  fresh-laid  egg, 
either  in  taste  or  appearance.  There  is  usually  a  small 
percentage  of  the  eggs  that  are  slightly  fertilized,  in 
which  the  gerrn  will  die  during  the  second  or  third  day. 
These  can  be  readily  detected  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  day, 
and  should  be  taken  from  the  machine,  and  reserved  as 
food  for  the  young  ducklings.  Another  and  potent  rea- 
son why  all  infertile  eggs,  and  those  with  dead  chicks 
in  them,  should  be  taken  out  of  the  machine,  is  that  after 
the  circulation  begins  in  the  egg,  especially  during  the  last 
part  of  the  hatch,  the 'temperature  of  a  live  egg  is  several 
degrees  higher  than  that  of  a  dead  one.  The  one  radi- 
ates heat,  the  other  absorbs  it;  so  that  if  the  operator  is 
running  his  machine  102  degrees,  with  his  glass  on  a 
dead  egg,  he  may  be  all  unconsciously  running  it  at 
104  or  105  degrees  on  a  live  one. 

I  had  a  letter  from  a  man  some  time  ago  stating  that 
his  thermometers  were  developing  strange  freaks, — that 
though  they  registered  the  same  while  in  water,  at  103 
degrees,  when  lying  on  the  eggs  a  few  inches  from  each 
other  in  the  machine,  they  were  several  degrees  apart, 
and  wishing  to  know  by  which  he  should  run,  the  higher 
or  lower.  I  wrote  him  that  his  glasses  were  all  right, 
and  that  he  was  the  one  at  fault,  and  had  he  followed 
instructions  and  tested  his  eggs  he  would  have  had  no 
such  trouble.  He  wrote  that  as  his  machine  was  not 
quite  full,  and  as  he  had  plenty  of  room,  he  neglected  to 
test  them,  thinking  it  would  make  no  difference. 

I  do  not  propose  here  to  give  my  experience,  together 
with  the  many  experiments  made  during  the  last  twenty 


61 

years,  but  shall  aim  to  give  the  reader  simple  instruc- 
tions for  hatching  and  growing  ducks  for  market  and 
selection  of  breeding  stock.  I  would  say  here  that  the 
first  thing  for  the  operator  to  learn  in  turning  the  eggs 
is  to  do  it  carefully  and  well,  without  breaking  or  un- 
necessarily jarring  them;  and  then,  to  do  it  as  quickly  as 
possible,  especially  if  done  in  a  cold  atmosphere,  so  as 
not  to  derange  the  heat  in  the  egg-chamber.  The  next 
thing  is  to  maintain  as  even  a  temperature  as  possible 
during  the  hatch.  I  do  not  think  that  a  variation  of  one 
degree  is  at  all  detrimental.  But  different  people  have 
different  ideas  of  regularity.  A  man  who  did  not  have 
a  first-class  hatch,  wrote  me  that  he  had  kept  the  ma- 
chine right  to  business,  as  it  had  run  between  90  and  no 
degrees  during  the  entire  hatch.  Another  man  wrote 
that  his  machine  had  been  as  low  as  100  degrees,  and 
once  up  to  103  degrees,  and  wishing  to  know  if  I  thought 
it  would  be  fatal  to  his  hatch. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  accuracy  in  the  composi- 
tion of  some  men,  things  are  run  "hap-hazard,"  failure 
and  misfortune  are  always  attributed  to  conditions,  cir- 
cumstances, or  hard  luck, — never  to  themselves, — and  in 
case  of  a  poor  hatch,  always  the  incubator.  Instructions 
go  for  nothing  with  them.  An  enterprising  incubator 
maker  told  me  one  day  that  he  believed  that  the  world 
was  composed  of  cranks  and  fools  (at  least  the  poultry 
part  of  it).  The  one-half  did  not  know  anything,  while 
the  other  half  had  all  that  was  worth  knowing  and 
despised  all  instructions  and  common-sense. 

In  running  your  machine,  the  first  step  is  to  set  it  level 
and  see  that  the  glasses  register  alike  in  both  ends  of 
the  machine.  Next,  procure  good  oil,  150  test  (as  poor 
oil  will  necessitate  frequent  trimming,  besides  crusting 
the  wick).  Do  not  use  more  flame  than  is  necessary,  as 
it  will  only  be  a  waste  of  oil,  and  with  some  machines 


will  increase  the  ventilation,  and  at  the  same  time  de- 
crease the  moisture.  Be  regular  in  both  filling  lamps 
and  trimming  them,  as  irregularity  frequently  involves 
forgetfulness,  and  that  sometimes  means  disaster  to  the 
hatch.  In  trimming,  it  is  well  to  turn  on  the  same 
amount  of  flame  in  relighting  your  lamp  as  it  had  pre- 
viously. 

In  the  Monarch  Incubator  this  required  amount  can 
readily  be  seen  at  once  by  the  action  of  the  regulating 
bar.  It  informs  the  operator  just  when  he  has  enough, 
—when  too  much  and  when  too  little.  Keep  both  lamps 
and  chimneys  clean,  and  have  stated  periods  for  turn- 


FIGURE  1.'—  SHOWING  FIRST  INDICATION  OF  FERTILITY. 

ing  your  eggs,  which  should  be  done  twice  each  day. 
As  I  said  before,  an  egg-tester  is  not  required  with  duck 
eggs,  as  they  are  so  transparent  that  the  whole  process 
can  be  plainly  seen  without  in  the  flame  of  a  common 
kerosene  lamp.  If  a  duck  egg  is  carefully  examined, 
after  being  subjected  to  a  heat  of  102  degrees  for  twenty- 
four  hours,  a  small  dark  spot  will  be  seen  about  the  size 
of  a  large  pin-head.  This  little  spot,  if  the  egg  is  grad- 
ually turned,  will  always  float  over  the  upper  surface  of 


63 

the  egg.    This  is  the  life  germ,  and  the  first  indication  of 
fertility  in  the  egg,  and  is  represented  in  Figure  I. 

At  the  end  of  forty-eight  hours  this  dark  spot  will 
have  nearly  doubled  its  size,  and  a  faint  haze  will  ap- 
pear around  its  edges  a  shade  darker  than  the  surround- 
ing contents  of  the  egg.  This  haze  is  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  blood  veins  radiating  out  from  the  germ. 


FIGURE  2.  — EGG  AT  END  OF  48  HOURS. 

Figure  2.  shows  how  the  egg  appears  at  this  stage  with 
the  air-cell  slightly  enlarged. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  day  the  dark  spot,  which  is  the 
heart  of  the  embryo  duck,  can  still  be  seen;  but  not  so 
distinctly,  because  a  dark  circle  some  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  in  diameter  will  now  appear  in  the  upper  sur- 
face of  the  egg,  in  the  centre  of  which  the  dark  spot  is 
visible.  This  circle  is  several  shades  darker  than  the  rest 
of  the  egg,  and  no  matter  how  the  egg  is  turned  will 
always  float  in  its  upper  surface. 

Figure  3  represents  the  egg  at  this  stage,  with  its  en- 
larged air-cell. 

Figure  4  represents  the  egg  as  it  appears  at  the  end 
of  the  fourth  day.  The  circle  surrounding  and  inclosing 


64 

the  germ  will  have  nearly  doubled  in  size,  and  is  of  a 
still  darker  hue;  indeed,  the  whole  contents  of  the  egg 
is  perceptibly  darkened.  If  the  egg  is  broken  carefully 
at  this  date  a  delicate  tracery  of  veins  will  be  found  to 
have  enveloped  the  entire  yolk  of  the  egg,  all  originating 
from  the  centre  or  heart  of  the  embryo;  the  pulsations 
of  which  (if  the  shell  is  removed)  can  now  be  plainly 
seen  with  the  naked  eye.  This  net  work  of  veins  cannot 
be  plainly  seen  with  a  common  lamp,  but  with  a  powerful 
glass  are  very  distinct.  This  latter  is  not  at  all  necessary 
in  testing  the  egg. 


FIGURE  3. —  EGG  AT  END  OF  72  HOURS. 


The  discovery  and  locations  of  the  minute  organisms 
may  be  interesting  to  the  scientist,  but  not  at  all  neces- 
sary to  the  operator,  who  simply  wants  to  be  assured  of 
the  life  and  health  of  the  germ.  This  he  can  readily  de- 
termine from  the  increased  size  and  gradual  development 
of  the  circle;  it,  and  the  contents  of  the  egg,  now  assume 
a  darker  shade.  Up  to  this  time  I  use  no  moisture, 
and  the  contents  of  the  eggs  have  gradually  evaporated 
and  the  air-cell  proportionately  enlarged.  This  air-cell 
is  slightly  enlarged  till  the  tenth  day,  when  no  further 


65 

evaporation  should  take  place.  About  three  days  before 
hatching  the  rapidly  developing  duck  will  gradually  dim- 
inish the  size  of  the  air-cell,  leaving  himself  just  room 
enough  to  work  out. 

Nature,  in  the  case  of  the  old  hen,  provides  for  her 
own  contingencies,  while  we  must  resort  to  art  to  obtain 
the  same  conditions. 


FIGURE  4. —EGG  AT  END  OF  96  HOURS. 

While  incubating  under  the  hen  during  the  first  few 
days,  the  egg  evaporates  rapidly.  Then  the  pores  grad- 
ually become  coated  with  an  oily  secretion  from  the 
feathers  of  the  hen  until  evaporation  ceases.  Now,  we 
cannot  successfully  fill  the  pores  of  the  eggs,  it  is  too 
delicate  an  operation  to  attempt;  but  we  can  easily  ob- 
tain the  same  conditions  in  another  way,  and  that  is  to 
prevent  the  further  evaporation  of  the  egg  by  vaporizing 
water  in  the  egg-chamber,  so  that  evaporation  will  not 
take  place.  Exactly  when  this  should  be  done  is  al- 
ready known,  but  exactly  how  much  is  quite  another 
thing,  and  depends  largely  upon  the  conditions  of  the  at- 
mosphere outside.  The  point  is  this:  the  humidity  inside 


the  egg-chamber  must  be  the  same,  whatever  the  condi- 
tions are  outside. 

If  your  machine  is  in  a  warm,  dry  room,  heated  by  a 
fire,  far  more  evaporating  surface  will  be  required  than 
in  a  cool,  dry  cellar,  for  the  reason  that  water  vaporizes 
just  in  proportion  to  its  heat;  and  as  the  circulating 
pipes  upon  which  the  water-pans  rest  must  necessarily 
be  much  warmer  in  a  cold  room  than  in  a  warm  one, 
of  course  more  surface  must  be  exposed  in  a  warm  than 
in  a  cold  one.  The  operator  will  always  have  to  use 


FIGUKE  5. —  EGG  AT  END  OF  120  HOURS. 

his  judgment  more  or  less  in  that.  It  may  perplex  the 
novice  somewhat,  but  it  is  easily  understood  when  one 
becomes  accustomed  to  it. 

As  a  rule,  in  our  machines,  we  introduce  one  moisture 
pan  about  the  i8th  day  for  both  duck's  and  hen's  eggs. 
It  makes  some  difference  whether  a  machine  is  run  in 
a  humid  atmosphere  near  the  seashore  or  in  a  dry,  rari- 
fied  atmosphere  at  an  altitude  in  the  country. 

Figure  5  represents  the  egg  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  day, 
the  circle  enlarged,  shaded  darker  in  color;  the  whole 
egg  being  slightly  darker  in  hue. 


67 

Figure  6,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  day,  shows  still  more 
plainly  the  germ  undergoing  a  gradual  change  in  the 
egg,  enlarging  and  assuming  a  darker  hue.  The  outline 
of  the  circle  is  now  gradually  acquiring  the  form  of  an 
ellipse,  and  in  a  live  embryo  the  line  of  demarkation 
should  be  distinct.  If  it  is  at  all  wavy  and  irregular 
in  its  outline,  and  instead,  remaining  intact,  the  contents 
of  this  ellipse  show  a  disposition  to  assimilate  with  the 
surrounding  liquids  when  the  egg  is  revolved,  it  can 
be  safely  removed  as  a  dead  duck. 


FIGURE  6.  — EGG  AT  END  OF  144  HOTRS. 

Figure  7  represents  a  dead  embryo,  as  it  will  appear 
from  the  seventh  to  the  twelfth  day.  The  germ  being 
separated  and  appearing  in  dark  irregular  blotches  over 
the  entire  surface  of  the  egg;  the  egg  having  become 
nearly  opaque  over  its  entire  surface.  At  this  stage  the 
egg,  if  it  has  not  already  become  so,  will  soon  be  very 
offensive.  These  should  be  removed  at  once  and  han- 
dled carefully  the  while,  as  they  are  apt  to  explode  and 
unpleasant  consequences  ensue.  The  operator  should 
run  no  risks,  as  discoloration  on  the  outside  shell  of  a 
duck  egg  is  a  sure  sign  of  decay,  and  they  can  safely 


68 

be  taken  from  the  machine.  There  are  always  a  certain 
number  of  duck  eggs  (especially  during  the  month  of 
August  and  the  latter  part  of  July)  that  have  the  appear- 
ance of  fertility  during  the  first  three  or  four  days  of  the 
hatch,  but  do  not  possess  vitality  enough  to  carry  them 
through.  'These  die  at  all  stages  of  the  hatch;  neither 
operator  nor  machine  is  responsible  for  them.  This  is 
caused  by  the  condition  of  the  mother  bird. 

In  order  to  economize  the  room  thus  made  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  fertile  eggs,  I  run  a  small  i5O~egg  machine, 


FIGURE  7.  —  A  DEAD  EMBRYO. 


in  connection  with  twenty-one  of  the  largest  size,  using 
it,  as  it  were,  as  a  tender.  When  filling  one  of  the 
larger  machines,  I  always  fill  one  tray  in  the  smaller  one 
so  that  when  the  eggs  in  the  large  one  are  tested,  after 
the  third  day,  there  will  usually  be  eggs  enough  in  the 
small  tray  to  replace  those  removed  as  infertile,  so  that 
the  large  machines  are  kept  full  during  the  entire  hatch 
by  the  litle  one.  Thus  the  small  machine  is  made  to  ac- 
complish far  more  than  it  would  were  it  run  through  the 
hatch.  I  am  thus  enabled  to  have  a  hatch  come  off 
nearly  every  day,  consequently  our  eggs  are  never  older 


69 

than  that  when  introduced  into  the  machine.  Always 
date  each  day's  quota  of  eggs — keep  them  by  them- 
selves, then  there  will  be  no  mistakes  made.  I  have 
known  parties  to  keep  one  general  receptacle  for  their 
eggs,  and  when  filling  their  machine  take  them  from 
the  top,  while  the  bottom  ones  were  never  disturbed, 
not  even  turned,  and  of  course  soon  became  worthless 
for  any  purpose. 

Figure  8  denotes  the  appearance  of  the  egg  during  the 
eighth  day  of  incubation.     If  portions  of  the  shell  are 


FIGURE  8.;— EGG  AFTER  19-2  HOURS. 

carefully  removed  at  this  stage,  the  rudimentary  intes- 
tines may  be  plainly  seen,  together  with  the  gradually 
development  of  the  beak  and  eyes,  as  well  as  the  tremb- 
ling of  the  pulsating  arteries  through  the  whole  embryo. 

At  this  stage  the  operator  should  mark  all  doubtful 
eggs  and  return  them  to  the  machine,  as  he  will  find 
plenty  of  room  there.  He  will  soon  become  expert,  and 
can  detect  life  and  death  in  the  germ  at  a  glance.  Expe- 
rience alone  will  give  the  operator  an  insight  into  this 
business.  The  incipient  stages  of  decay,  though  easily 
detected  by  the  expert,  cannot  be  intelligently  described 


70 

by  him.  The  application  of  a  little  heat  for  the  short 
space  of  twenty  days  to  an  inert  mass,  developing  it  into 
active,  intelligent  life,  is  simply  wonderful.  The  process 
and  effect  he  can  easily  describe,  but  the  procreative 
power  behind  it  all  is  beyond  his  ken.  Should  a  little 
duckling  be  taken  from  the  shell  on  the  thirteenth  or 
fourteenth  day  it  will  resemble  Figure  9.  It  will  kick 
and  struggle  several  moments  after  its  removal.  The 
yolk  is  not  yet  absorbed,  but  the  process  is  just  begin- 
ning and  will  continue  until  the  twenty-fourth  day,  when 
it  will  be  nearly  absorbed.  The  egg,  from  the  four- 
teenth day  rapidly  assumes  a  darker  hue. 


FIGURE  9. 


The  extremities  of  the  little  bird  gradually  develop, 
the  feathers  grow,  and  at  the  twentieth  day  the  egg  is 
opaque.  At  this  stage  the  embryo  will  endure  greater 
extremes  of  heat  or  cold  than  at  the  earlier  stage  of  the 
hatch.  I  should  not  advise  the  operator  to  presume  upon 
this,  however,  but  just  make  the  conditions  as  favorable 
as  he  can,  so  that  the  little  bird  will  have  the  strength 
to  free  himself  from  the  shell.  I  need  not  say  that  this 
is  the  most  critical  time  during  the  whole  process,  and 
matters  should  be  made  as  favorable  for  the  little  duck- 
ling as  possible.  About  the  twenty-fourth  day  he  will 
be  already  to  break  the  shell,  but,  unlike  the  chick,  who 
will  make  his  way  out  of  the  shell  a  few  hours  after  he 


71 

has  pipped,  the  duckling  will  lay  for  forty-eight  hours 
before  he  is  ready  to  come  out.  At  this  time  there 
should  be  plenty  of  moisture  in  the  egg-chamber,  for 
should  the  orifice  or  broken  parts  become  dry,  and  the 
little  duckling,  in  consequence,  be  attached  to  the  inside 
lining  so  that  he  cannot  turn,  he  can  never  get  out  with- 
out help. 


FKiUKE  10. 

When  the  hatch  is  well  underway  a  little  more  air 
should  be  allowed  to  circulate  in  the  egg-chamber,  and 
a  part  of  the  evaporating  surface  can  be  removed,  for  as 
each  duckling  makes  its  appearance  he  becomes  a  little 
sponge,  until  dried  off,  and  furnishes  plenty  of  moisture 
for  the  machine.  When  nearly  dried  off  the  duckling 
should  be  dropped  into  the  nursery  below  the  egg-trays. 
While  hatching,  the  eggs  should  be  kept  pipped  side  up 
in  the  trays,  as  the  birds  sometimes  get  smothered  when 
the  orifice  is  underneath.  The  dry  birds  should  be 
dropped  below  about  once  in  four  hours,  for,  if  allowed 
to  accumulate,  they  will  roll  the  egg  upside  down,  crowd 
the  egg-shells  over  the  pipped  eggs,  or  pile  themselves 
over  the  egg,  smothering  the  young  birds. 


72 

This  work  should  be  done  very  quickly,  so  as  not  to 
derange  the  temperature  of  the  machine.  Be  sure  to 
keep  the  heat  up  in  your  machine,  for  its  tendency  is 
always  to  go  down  during  hatching,  for  the  reason  that 
the  egg  radiates  a  great  deal  of  heat,  while  the  little 
duckling,  with  its  woolly  covering  (which  is  a  non-con- 
ductor), retains  it.  Many  people  advocate  allowing  the 
little  fledglings  to  remain  with  the  eggs  until  all  are 
hatched,  but  this  is  all  wrong,  not  only  for  the  above  rea- 
sons, but  for  one  which  is  far  more  important  than  either. 

The  amount  of  heat  requisite  to  hatch  the  eggs  is  too 
much  for  the  young  birds  already  hatched  and  dried  off. 
With  chamber  at  102  degrees,  they  will  be  seen  crowding 
around  the  sides  of  machine  with  their  little  bills  wide 
open,  gasping  for  breath,  when,  had  they  been  placed 
below,  the  proper  temperature  can  be  maintained  in 
both,  as  the  bottom  of  machine  runs  at  least  five  degrees 
lower  than  the  egg-trays. 

Be  sure  and  Follow  Instructions. 

Another  fertile  source  of  trouble  is  removing  duck- 
lings from  machine,  putting  them  behind  the  stove,  or 
somewhere  else  to  dry  off.  For  every  fifteen  birds  re- 
moved, the  heat  in  egg-chamber  is  reduced  at  least  one 
degree,  as  you  are  removing  so  many  little  stoves,  and 
if  the  machine  is  not  gauged  higher,  to  correspond  with 
the  number  of  ducklings  taken  out,  the  result  will  be 
fatal  to  the  unhatched  eggs. 

I  corresponded  a  whole  summer  with  one  man  on  this 
very  point  before  I  found  out  what  he  was  doing.  He 
said  he  had  never  been  able  to  get  out  more  than  fifty 
per  cent,  of  fertile  eggs.  His  machine  ran  splendidly 
until  his  chicks  were  about  half  hatched,  when  it  would 
drop  down  to  90  degrees,  and  the  rest  would  die  in  the 
shell,  after  they  were  nearly  all  pipped.  At  last  a  lettei 


73 

came  from  him  stating  that  he  had  just  had  a  worse  ex- 
perience than  ever.  He  had  a  most  promising  hatch  of 
three  hundred  fertile  eggs,  nearly  all  of  which  were 
pipped,  and  that,  after  a  little  more  than  half  were 
hatched,  he  took  them  out  as  usual,  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  in  number,  and  put  them  behind  the  stove  to 
dry  off,  and  his  machine  dropped  to  90  degrees  at  once, 
and  not  another  chick  came  out.  The  cat  was  out  of  the 
bag. 

I  wrote  him  at  once  that  for  every  fifteen  chicks  he 
had  taken  out  he  had  taken  one  degree  of  heat  from  his 
machine,  and  had  he  followed  instructions  he  would  not 
have  suffered  loss.  He  wrote  back  that  he  had  shut  up 
his  machine  for  the  season,  but  that  he  should  run  it 
one  more  hatch  just  to  prove  that  I  was  wrong.  At  the 
end  of  three  weeks  a  letter  was  received  saying,  <4I  tender 
you  my  hat.  I  got  a  splendid  hatch  of  88  1-2  per  cent." 
Proving  that  occasionally  there  is  danger  of  the  operator 
knowing  too  much.  After  the  ducklings  are  all  out, 
the  egg-trays  should  be  removed,  the  valves  opened, 
and  the  machine  cooled  down  to  90  degrees,  and  the 
birds  allowed  to  remain  in  the  machine  for  at  least 
twenty-four  hours.  I  always  cover  the  bottom  of  machine 
with  an  inch  of  fine  wheat-bran,  otherwise  the  ducklings 
would  soon  make  it  filthy  and  offensive.  This  acts  both 
as  absorbent  and  disinfectant. 

After  each  hatch  there  will  be  more  or  less  fertile  eggs 
left  in  the  trays  with  dead  ducklings  in  them.  There  will 
be,  comparatively,  but  few  of  these  in  the  spring  of  the 
year,  but  during  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  there  will 
be  more  of  them,  and  many  of  the  eggs  will  have  but 
little  vitality  in  them. 

Forcing  the  Bird  Reduces  the  Vitality  of  the  Egg. 
The  reason  is  this:  the  bird  in  its  natural  condition 
does  not  produce  her  eggs  in  our  climate  until  April. 


74 

She  will  lay  twenty-five  to  thirty  eggs,  then  show  a  de- 
sire to  incubate,  then  will  recuperate  and  set  a  second 
time,  perhaps  giving  a  total  of  thirty-five  or  forty  eggs. 
Now,  we  have  completely  reversed  nature  in  this  re- 
spect. By  judicious  feeding,  good  care,  warm  quarters, 
and  careful  breeding,  we  have  induced  the  bird  to  pro- 
duce her  eggs  in  winter  instead  of  summer,  and,  not 
only  that,  we  compel  her  to  lay  three  or  four  times  as 
many  of  them;  and  when  the  poor  bird  shows  a  desire  to 
incubate  and  recuperate  her  exhausted  frame,  we  induce 
a  change  of  mind,  as  soon  as  possible,  and  set  her  at  it 
again. 

As  a  natural  consequence,  as  the  warm  season  ad- 
vances many  of  the  birds  are  off  duty,  as  it  were,  and 
the  eggs  not  only  decrease  in  numbers  but  in  size  as  well, 
and  during  the  extreme  heat  of  summer,  the  later  part  of 
July  and  August  especially,  the  eggs  show  a  decided 
want  of  vitality.  I  never  expect,  at  this  season,  to  realize 
more  than  one  duckling  from  two  eggs.  The  same 
machine  full  of  eggs  that  would  give  a  hatch  of  350 
ducklings  in  the  early  spring,  at  this  season  will  not 
give  more  than  175  to  200.  The  eggs  appear  to  be  as 
well  fertilized  during  the  first  two  or  three  days  as  in  the 
early  spring  but  evidently  there  is  not  vitality  enough  to 
carry  them  through,  as  the  germs  soon  begin  to  die, 
and  before  the  hatch  is  out  you  have  taken  nearly  one- 
half  of  the  eggs  away  as  worthless.  Nor  is  this  all. 

There  is  always  a  far  greater  mortality  among  the 
later  hatched  birds  than  in  those  got  out  earlier.  They 
are  more  uneven  in  appearance,  and  never  attain  the 
size  of  those  hatched  earlier  in  the  season, — convincing 
evidence  that  the  old  birds  have  transmitted  their  en- 
feebled, debilitated  constitutions  through  the  egg  to  the 
young  ones.  The  natural  laws  of  cause  and  effect  are 
plainly  represented  here.  I  have  tried  repeatedly  to 


75 

overcome  this  difficulty  by  changing  the  feed  and  quar- 
ters of  the  old  birds,  dividing  their  numbers,  but  without 
effect.  This  shows  the  absolute  necessity  of  selecting 
large,  vigorous  breeding  stock.  This  principle  applies 
equally  to  both  land  and  water  fowl. 

The  Absolute  Necessity  of  Good  Breeding  Stock. 

Debilitated,  degenerate  stock  will  not  produce  healthy 
and  vigorous  young.  This  is  a  prime  cause  of  failure 
with  many  of  our  poultry  breeders.  They  say  that  they 
cannot  afford  to  breed  from  their  early-hatched  stock. 
They  are  worth  too  much  in  the  market,  so  they  are  sent 
to  the  shambles,  and  their  owners  breed  from  the  later- 
hatched,  inferior  birds.  A  few  years  practice  of  this 
kind  soon  degenerates  the  stock  so  that  you  will  hardly 
recognize  the  original  in  it,  and  both  birds  and  eggs  are 
not  only  thus,  but  a  very  small  per  cent,  of  those  eggs 
can  be  induced  to  hatch,  and  no  amount  of  petting  and 
coaxing  can  induce  those  that  are  hatched  to  live. 

Every  young  breeder  of  poultry  should  inform  him- 
self of  these  facts  before,  he  starts  in,  for  no  living 
man  can  afford  to  breed  from  inferior  stock.  I  passed 
through  experiences  of  this  kind  many  years  ago,  and 
always  found  that  the  laws  of  primogeniture  cannot  be 
lightly  set  aside.  I  invariably  select  the  choicest  of  my 
early  hatched  birds  for  breeding  stock,  and  no  matter 
how  high  the  price  in  market,  I  cannot  afford  to  sell 
them.  A  gentleman,  who  is  a  large  breeder,  said  to  me 
the  past  spring:  "How  is  it  that  your  ducks  are  so  much 
larger  than  mine?  I  bought  stock  from  you  four  years 
ago,  and  have  been  breeding  from  it  ever  since,  and  now 
your  birds  are  six  or  eight  pounds  per  pair  heavier 
than  mine."  'True,  but  you  bought  my  latest-hatched 
birds,  because  they  were  cheap,  and  have  been  breeding 
from  your  latest-hatched  birds  ever  since,  while  I  have 


76 

been  breeding  only  from  the  choicest  of  my  early  birds. 
You  have  been  steadily  breeding  your  stock  down,  while 
I  have  been  breeding  mine  up.  There  is  now  a  wide 
gap  between  them." 

Caring  for  the  Ducklings  when  Hatched. 

The  little  ducklings  should  be  left  in  the  machine  for 
at  least  twenty-four  hours  longer.  Be  sure  and  open 
the  air-valves  and  give  them  plenty  of  air,  so  that  they 

may  be  well  dried  off.  A  uniform  heat  of  90  degrees 
should  be  held  in  the  egg-chamber.  The  outer  doors 
of  the  machine  should  be  closed  and  the  little  fellows 
kept  in  darkness  the  first  twelve  hours.  After  that  the 
outer  doors  should  be  let  down.  Then  you  will  see  some 
fun,  for  the  little  ducklings  are  far  more  active  than 
chicks,  and  will  begin  to  play  at  once.  In  the  meantime 
the  brooding-house  should  be  prepared  for  the  reception 
of  the  young  brood.  The  heat  should  be  started  some 
twenty-four  hours  previous  to  use. 

The  brooding-house  should  be  the  same  whether  you 
are  growing  on  a  small  scale  or  a  large  one,  with  simply 
the  length  proportioned  to  your  needs.  But  always  rec- 
ollect that  heat  should  radiate  from  above  on  your  duck- 
lings, as  bottom  heat  will  soon  cripple  them  in  the  legs 
and  render  them  helpless.  In  fact,  I  do  not  consider 
bottom  heat  as  essential  even  for  chicks.  The  most 
successful  grower  I  know  of,  who  grows  3,000  chicks 
each  spring,  getting  them  all  out  between  January  ist 
and  March  ist,  and  closes  up  the  whole  business  by  July 
ist,  uses  top  heat  exclusively.  He  has  experimented 
fairly  with  both,  and  says  he  wants  no  more  bottom  heat. 
If  the  breeder  is  growing  on  a  small  scale  it  will  be 
economy  for  him  to  use  brooders  instead  of  a  heater. 

Figure   n   represents  the  best  duck  brooder  I  know 
of.    As  there  is  no  patent  on  it  anyone  can  make  it  who 


77 

has  the  conveniences.  This  brooder  is  six  and  a  half 
feet  long  by  three  feet  wide,  and  will  accommodate  150 
ducklings.  These  brooders  are  of  the  most  improved 
construction,  are  intended  for  both  indoor  and  outdoor 
work,  keeping  the  young  ducks  dry  and  warm  in  cold, 
stormy  weather,  even  when  located  out  of  doors.  The 
heat  is  generated  in  copper  boilers,  the  water  flowing 
through  a  galvanized  iron  tank,  under  which  the  young 
ducklings  hover.  This  tank  is  five  feet  long,  twelve 
inches  wide,  and  about  an  inch  thick,  and  is  hung  about 
eight  inches  from  ends  and  back  of  brooder,  leaving 
nearly  eighteen  inches  in  front  the  entire  length  of 


FIGURE  11.— BROODER. 

brooder,  in  which  to  feed  the  first  day  or  two.  The  case 
of  this  brooder  is  made  of  matched  boards  and  thor- 
oughly ventilated,  and  furnished  with  glass  doors  to  ad- 
mit light.  This  brooder  should  be  used  in  the  brooding- 
house  during  winter  and  early  spring,  after  which  it 
can  be  used  to  better  advantage  out  of  doors. 

Let  it  be  understood  that  a  good  brooder  is,  next  to 
the  incubator,  the  most  important  thing  in  the  business. 
It  is  worse  than  useless  to  get  out  large  hatches  of 
strong,  healthy  birds,  only  to  have  them  smothered  or 
chilled  in  worthless  brooders.  Numbers  of  the  patent 
brooders  now  on  the  market  are  made  by  men  who 
never  raised  a  chick  or  duck  in  their  lives,  and  are  regu- 
lar fire  and  death  traps.  Many  instances  have  come 
under  my  personal  notice  where  not  only  ducks,  chicks, 


and  brooders,  but  the  buildings  themselves  have  been 
entirely  consumed  by  these  fire  traps. 

Again,  those  brooders -are  always  rated  for  higher 
than  their  actual  capacity.  Ignorant  parties  buy  them, 
fill  them  up  according  to  instructions,  when  a  sad  mor- 
tality is  sure  to  follow  from  over-crowding  and  conse- 
quent over-heating.  This  is  especially  the  case  with 
chicks,  Ducklings  never  smother  each  other  from  over- 
crowding, but,  of  course,  will  not  thrive  when  too  closely 
packed.  These  I5oduck  brooders  can  be  run  at  an  ex- 
pense of  two  cents  per  day  for  oil.  In  extreme  cold 
weather  artificial  heat  should  be  kept  up  in  these  brood- 
ers for  three  weeks ;  in  warm  weather,  a  week  is  suffi- 
cient. The  same  brooders  can  be  used  over  and  over  as 
fast  as  the  new  hatches  come  out.  When  brooders  are 
removed,  closed  boxes  can  be  used  instead. 

When  the  operator  does  business  large  enough  to 
require  the  use  of  five  or  six  brooders,  it  would  be 
cheaper  for  him  to  put  in  a  heater  at  once,  as  the  original 
cost  of  the  heater  would  be  less  than  that  of  the  brooders. 
Years  ago,  when  the  question  of  heaters  was  first  agi- 
tated, the  cost  was  enormous,  and  the  consumption  of 
coal  in  proportion.  Large  hot-house  boilers  were  used, 
often  at  a  cost  of  several  hundred  dollars  before  the  thing 
was  ready  for  use.  Now  a  good  heating  system  can  be 
arranged  for  a  building  one  hundred  feet  long  at  an  ex- 
pense not  exceeding  $100.  This,  of  course,  would  be 
much  less  than  a  complement  of  brooders  for  the  same 
building. 

Advantages  of  the  Heating  System. 

The  heating  system  has  several  marked  advantages 
over  the  brooders.  One  is,  that  during  the  extreme  cold 
of  winter  the  building  is  always  warm  enough  for  the 
little  birds,  while  with  nothing  but  brooders  it  would 


79 

often  freeze  around  them,  necessitating  feeding  inside 
the  brooders,  which  would  not  be  as  healthy  for  the  duck- 
lings. Again  there  would  be  a  great  saving  of  labor,,  as 
a  self-regulating  heater  would  require  no  more  care 
than  a  single  brooder,  while  the  oil  consumed  in  the 
brooders  would  fully  equal  the  cost  of  coal  required  for 
the  heater. 

There  is  one  point  here  which  the  beginner  should  al- 
ways take  into  consideration  in  the  selection  of  a  heater, 
and  that  is,  be  sure  and  get  one  that  will  give  you  the 
greatest  amount  of  heat  for  the  fuel  consumed.  The  pa- 
tent steam  and  water  heaters  now  upon  the  market  are 
too  numerous  to  mention.  But  there  is  a  vast  difference 
in  the  economy  of  these  heaters. 

When  contemplating  the  purchase  of  a  heater,  several 
years  ago,  I  called  upon  a  party  who  was  running  a 
newly-purchased  heater.  He  seemed  very  much  pleased 
with  it,  and  said  it  run  admirably, — warmed  his  build- 
ings nicely,  and  only  cost  about  one  dollar  per  day  for 
coal.  I  made  up  my  mind  then  and  there  that  I  should 
run  my  brooders  a  while  longer.  But  on  interrogating 
another  party  using  one  of  a  different  pattern,  he  assured 
me  that  his  heaters  warmed  both  brooders  and  buildings 
in  good  shape  at  a  cost  of  fifteen  cents  per  day.  This 
was  presenting  the  matter  in  a  new  phase.  The  differ- 
ence in  cost  of  running  these  heaters  one  year  would 
purchase  two.  I  am  now  running  three  heaters  called 
the  "Bramhail-Deane  Heater"  and  am  heating;  two  brood- 
ing houses  (one  250  feet  long,  the  other  175  feet  long),  at 
half  the  cost  per  day.  Either  steam  or  water  may  be 
used.  I  prefer  water  for  both  safety  and  economy. 

For  instance,  should  the  fire  go  out  accidentally  the 
heat  would  cease  at  once  where  steam  was  used,  while 
water  would  hold  its  heat  for  hours,  and  would  con- 
tinue to  circulate  just  so  long  as  the  water  in  the  boiler 


80 

was  hotter  than  that  in  the  pipes.  I  do  not  know  but 
there  are  other  heaters  in  the  market  just  as  economical 
as  the  "Bramhall-Deane,"  but  I  know  of  several  promi- 
nent poultry  men  who  are  changing  their  heating  princi- 
ple, not  because  they  are  dissatisfied  with  the  work  done 
by  that  now  in  use,  but  solely  on  account  of  the  expense 
attending  it. 

Figure  12  represents  our  brooding-house  as  it  appears 
outside.  Its  dimensions  have  already  been  given.  It  is 
boarded  in  with  closely-fitting  hemlock  boards,  the  whole 
being  covered  on  the  outside  with  the  heaviest  quality  of 
"Paroid"  Roofing. 

This  roofing  is  manufactured  by  F.  W.  Bird  &  Son, 
East  Walpole,  Mass.  We  have  more  than  an  acre  under 
roofing,  a  large  proportion  of  which  is  covered  with 
Paroid.  We  find  it  strong,  pliable,  insusceptible  to  either 
heat  or  cold  and  to  all  appearances  will  be  more  durable 
than  anything  we  have  ever  used.  I  have  many  buildings 
covered  with  this  roofing.  In  applying  it,  begin  at  the 
eaves,  lapping  it  i  1-2  inches.  It  is  so  heavy  that  it  does 
not  require  wooden  strips  to  hold  it  down,  simply  nails 
and  tin  caps,  which  should  be  about  an  inch  apart.  A 
coat  of  the  liquid,  which  goes  with  it,  will  glaze  it  over 
in  good  shape.  For  a  flat  roof,  it  is  far  better  than 
shingles  at  less  than  half  the  cost. 

Interior  Arrangement  of  Brooding- House. 

As  the  construction  of  this  building  has  been  already 
noticed,  I  will  proceed  to  describe  its  interior  arrange- 
men  for  a  brooding-house.  In  the  first  place,  as  in 
the  breeding-house,  there  should  be  a  walk  three  feet 
wide  the  entire  length  of  the  building  on  the  back  side. 
Next  to  the  walk,  and  parallel  with  it,  the  brooder  box 
should  run.  This  box  will  be  thirty  inches  wide,  and  like 
the  walk,  the  entire  length  of  the  building.  In  my  build- 


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ing  the  brooding  arrangement  is  very  simple,  being  a  box 
with  two  sides  resting  on  the  ground,  eight  inches  high 
in  the  clear,  the  ground  being  utilized  as  the  bottom  of 
brooder. 

This  brooding-box  consists  of  two  parts.  The  sides, 
seven  inches  wide,  are  nailed  securely,  and  constitute  the 
sides  of  the  pipe-stand.  The  cover  is  portable,  with  cleats 
nailed  across  the  top  to  strengthen  it,  and  with  strips  an 
inch  wide  nailed  underneath,  in  front  and  in  back,  to  keep 
it  in  position.  These  strips  are  supposed  to  rest  on  the 
seven-inch  strips  in  the  sides,  and,  when  the  cover  is  on, 
make  a  tight  brooder. 

Figure  13  represents  the  interior  of  brooding-house; 
with  these  covers  on  the  brooders  and  ready  for  use. 
Also,  with  two  of  the  covers  removed  showing  the  heat- 
ing pipes.  These  consist  of  a  two-inch  flow  and  return, 
running  parallel  with  each  other  the  entire  length  of  the 
building,  and  lying  ten  inches  apart  from  centre  to  centre. 
These  pipes  rest  upon  cross  boards,  whose  length  cor- 
responds with  the  width  of  the  brooder,  and  to  which 
the  sides  are  nailed;  two-inch  holes  are  cut  out  in  the  top 
of  these  boards  into  which  the  pipes  are  laid,  the  upper 
surface  of  which  comes  flush  with  the  top  of  the  boards, 
so  that  when  the  cover  of  brooders  is  in  position  it  rests 
equally  on  pipes  and  boards. 

The  distance  between  these  boards  corresponds  with 
the  width  of  pens  outside  of  brooder,  and  constitute  par- 
titions for  the  same.  The  partitions  are  simply  inch 
boards,  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  wide,  fitting  into 
ground  in  front  of  building  to  keep  them  upright  and  in 
position.  The  front  of  the  brooder  leading  into  the  pens 
is  cut  out  in  centre  of  brooder  four  feet  long  and  four 
inches  deep  to  allow  the  free  passage  of  the  ducklings. 
These  openings  in  the  first  four  pens  are  fringed  with 
woolen  cloth,  cut  up  every  four  inches,  to  keep  the 


83 

brooder  warmer  in  cold  weather.  The  remaining  brood- 
ers are  not  fringed,  for  reasons  which  will  appear  here- 
after. The  heater  can  be  located  in  the  end  of  building 
most  convenient  to  the  operator. 

The  bottom  of  the  pens  should  consist  of  sand  which, 
when  it  becomes  wet,  and  before  it  becomes  offensive, 
should  be  covered  with  fine  sawdust.  This  is  a  good  ab- 
sorbent and  disinfectant  as  well.  The  inside  of  the  four 
brooders  next  the  heater  should  be  filled  up  with  hay 
chaff  to  within  four  inches  of  the  pipes,  the  distance 
being  gradually  increased  as  you  near  the  other  end  of 
the  building,  until  the  whole  eight  inches  in  height  will 
be  required,  using  simply  sawdust  enough  to  disinfect 
the  bottom  of  brooder.  This  is  my  present  brooding 
arrangement,  with  the  exception  of  a  common  door  han- 
dle screwed  on  each  brooder  cover  to  facilitate  handling. 
It  may  not  suit  every  one;  some  may  want  it  more  orna- 
mental, more  expensive;  others  may  wish  to  simplify  it 
still  more.  But  such  as  it  is,  it  is  now  all  ready  for  use, 
with  heat  applied. 

But  those  little  ducklings,  who  have  been  waiting  all 
this  time  in  the  machine,  are  getting  both  hungry  and 
impatient,  and  require  immediate  attention.  The  food 
which  has  already  been  prepared  consists  of  a  formula 
composed  of  four  parts  wheat-bran,  one  part  corn-meal 
with  enough  of  low  grade  flour  to  connect  the  mass  with- 
out making  it  sticky  or  pasty,  in  fact,  it  should  be  crum- 
bly so  that  the  little  birds  can  eat  it  readily.  About  five 
per  cent,  of  fine,  sharp  grit  should  be  mixed  into  their 
first  feed,  after  that,  one  or  two  per  cent,  is  all  sufficient. 
This  grit  should  be  increased  in  size  as  the  birds  grow 
older. 

About  the  third  day,  a  little  fine  beef-scrap  should 
be  introduced,  soaking  it  a  little  before  mixing.  When 
a  few  days  old.,  a  little  green  rye,  if  obtainable,  should  be 


84 

given  them,  or  as  a  substitute,  finely  chopped  cabbage  or 
lettuce.  When  the  birds  are  two  weeks  old,  one  part 
corn-meal  to  three  parts  bran  should  be  used.  This  food 
should  be  scattered  upon  the  feeding-troughs,  which  are 
simply  one-half  inch  boards,  nine  or  ten  inches  wide,  by 
three  or  four  feet  long,  with  laths  nailed  on  the  sides  and 
ends.  Small  water-cans,  inverted  in  tin  saucers,  so  that 
the  ducklings  can  drink  readily  without  getting  wet, 
should  stand  convenient  to  the  food. 

How  to  Remove  the  Ducklings  "Without  Injury. 

To  facilitate  the  removal  of  ducklings  from  the  ma- 
chine, I  have  a  square  basket  some  two  and  one-half  feet 
long,  by  fifteen  inches  wide  and  one  foot  high,  with  close 
covers,  hinged  in  the  centre.  In  order  to  secure  the 
ducklings,  usually  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  open  one 
door  of  machine,  hold  this  basket  under  it  and  make  a 
little  chuckling  noise,  and  strange  to  say,  the  little  fel- 
lows will  run  out  over  the  pipes,  over  the  glass  door, 
down  into  the  basket  in  dozens  as  fast  as  their  little  legs 
and  wings  can  carry  them.  This  basket  will  hold  100 
ducklings  conveniently.  When  full,  it  should  be  carried 
to  the  brooding-house  and  carefully  inverted  over  the 
feeding-boards. 

The  little  birds  will  begin  eating  at  once.  This  process 
can  be  repeated  until  the  machine  is  emptied.  There  will 
be  some  of  the  later-hatched  ones  that  should  be  allowed 
to  remain  in  the  machine  ten  or  twelve  hours  longer,  as 
they  can  be  cared  for  better  there.  These  can  be  readily 
detected,  as  they  are  not  as  active  as  the  others,  and  per- 
haps not  completely  dried  off.  The  ducklings  should 
be  put  out,  if  possible,  during  the  middle  of  the  day,  and 
while  the  sun  shines  through  the  windows,  as  they  can 
be  fed  in  the  sun  and  put  under  the  brooder  later  in  the 
day. 


85 

In  event  of  their  being  no  sun,  it  will  not  do  to  feed 
under  the  brooding-box,  as  it  is  too  dark.  I  then  take 
a  one-half  inch  board,  four  feet  long  (to  correspond  with 
the  length  of  opening  in  front  of  brooder)  and  six  inches 
wide.  I  nail  two  pieces  of  the  same  width  and  height, 
one  foot  long,  on  to  each  end  of  this  board,  forming  a 
parallelogram  four  feet  long  and  one  foot  wide,  minus 
one  side.  This  is  set  up  in  front  of  the  opening  in  brood- 
er, and  being  of  the  same  length,  forms  a  little  pen  in 
front  of  brooder  one  foot  wide,  in  which  the  feeding- 
trough  can  be  placed  with  drinking  fount. 

The  ducklings  can  then  run  out  and  in  and  feed  when 
they  wish.  This  board  will  only  be  needed  for  a  day  or 
two,  when  it  can  be  taken  up  and  reserved  for  the  next 
brood.  The  ducklings  should  be  fed  once  in  two  hours, 
scattering  a  little  food  on  the  troughs.  Be  sure  that 
they  eat  clean  before  more  is  given.  At  the  end  of  a 
week  the  regular  feed  should  be  four  meals  each  day. 

How  to  Feed. 

When  I  can  get  stale  baker's  bread  I  use  that  in  con- 
nection with,  and  instead  of,  bran.  It  can  be  profitably 
mixed  with  milk,  not  too  sour,  when  it  can  be  had  for  a 
cent  a  quart.  But  clo  not  give  milk  as  drink, — the  young 
birds  will  smear  themselves  all  over  with  it,  their  beaks 
and  eyes  will  be  stuck  up,  the  down  will  come  off  their 
little  bodies  in  large  patches,  and  they  will  be  a  con- 
stant aggravation.  I  was  once  called  upon  to  visit  an 
establishment,  the  owner  of  which  complained  that  his 
ducklings  did  not  grow,  and  he  was  very  anxious  for  me 
to  locate  the  trouble.  I  found  six  to  eight  hundred  duck- 
lings there  of  all  ages,  and,  strange  to  say,  nearly  of  one 
size ;  and  one  lot  of  nearly  three  hundred  ducklings  eight 
weeks  old  would  not  average  one  pound  each,  when  they 
should  have  weighed  four  pounds. 


87 

Such  a  sight  I  never  saw  before,  and  hope  never  to 
see  again.  Of  all  the  miserable,  squalid,  contemptible 
looking  objects,  those  ducklings  took  the  lead.  This 
man  had  not  only  mixed  their  food  with  milk,  but  had 
kept  it  by  them  in  open  troughs,  and  the  birds  had 
bathed  in  it  and  spattered  it  over  each  other  until  there 
was  hardly  a  feather  left  on  their  emaciated  bodies;  and 
yet  this  man  did  not  know  what  ailed  his  ducks. 

Is  it  strange  that  some  people  fail  in  the  poultry  busi- 
ness? 

When  in  full  operation,  we  run  twenty-one  large  ma- 
chines, and  as  it  requires  twenty-seven  days  to  close  up 
each  hatch,  of  course  we  have  a  hatch  come  off  nearly 
every  day.  Now  as  each  hatch  is  supposed  to  occupy 
two  brooder-pens  with  the  corresponding  yards,  in  the 
course  of  five  or  six  weeks  that  brooding-house  will  be 
filled  with  its  complement  of  3,000  ducklings.  These  will 
be  of  all  ages,  from  the  little  puff-balls  just  from  the  ma- 
chine, to  the  half-grown  bird  of  six  weeks  old.  The  brood- 
ing pipes  are  supposed  to  radiate  the  same  amount  of 
heat  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  building  as  they  do  next 
the  heater,  consequently  the  brooders  are  of  the  same 
temperature  in  all  their  parts.  Not  so  the  building. 

As  the  heater  radiates  a  great  deal  of  heat,  the  end  in 
which  this  is  located  is  always  12  or  15  degrees  warmer 
than  the  other  and  is  thus  better  adapted  to  the  comfort 
of  the  newly  hatched  ducklings  than  the  other,  so  I 
always  put  the  birds  fresh  from  the  machine  next  the 
heater,  while  the  older  ones  are  passed  down  the  build- 
ing. This  is  a  very  simple  process.  One  end  of  the  parti- 
tion board  is  lifted  up  a  little,  food  scattered  in  a  trough 
in  the  empty  pen  adjoining,  the  ducklings  will  rush  under 
in  a  moment,  then  the  board  is  dropped.  The  same 
process  is  continued  until  all  are  moved  and  the  building 
filled. 


89 

The  building  just  described  we  term  our  nursery,  and 
has  a  capacity  of  about  2,500  birds.  When  full,  the  older 
birds  are  probably  about  two  weeks  old,  and  of  course 
these  older  ones  must  be  removed  to  make  room  for 
successive  hatches  of  younger  birds.  For  this  purpose, 
we  constructed  a  building  125  feet  long,  32  feet  wide, 
which  we  style  our  double  brooding  house.  It  runs  east 
and  west  with  a  walk  four  feet  wide  through  the  centre, 
with  brooding-pens  on  each  side.  This  building  has  the 
same  capacity  of  a  single  building  250  feet  long,  and  ac- 
commodates about  5,000  birds.  On  the  south  side  of  this 
walk  our  brooder  boxes  are  arranged. 

At  one  end  of  the  building  is  a  heater,  from  which  an 
inch-and-a-half  flow  and  return  pipe  runs  under  the 
brooder  boxes  the  entire  length  of  the  building  and  fur- 
nishes heat  for  the  little  birds.  The  brooder-boxes  are 
located  twenty  inches  from  the  side  of  the  walk.  The 
ducklings  are  fed  and  watered  in  this  space,  and  are  not 
allowed  in  it  except  for  that  purpose.  To  effect  this,  the 
covers  of  the  brooding-boxes,  which  are  six  feet  long  by 
two  feet  wide,  are  cut  in  the  centre  the  entire  length,  and 
hinged  with  a  perpendicular  lip,  which  when  closed, 
meets  an  upright  board  below,  some  two  inches  high, 
shutting  brooders  tight,  excluding  ducklings  from  feed- 
ing apartment,  so  that  it  is  always  sweet  and  clean. 

By  this  arrangement,  the  ducklings  are  all  fed  and 
watered  from  the  walk,  thus  reducing  the  labor  to  a 
minimum,  while  there  is  no  danger  of  crushing  the  little 
birds  under  foot  or  under  the  troughs.  The  attendant  is 
not  hampered  in  his  movements,  but  can  work  as  quickly 
as  he  likes.  All  he  has  to  do  is  to  distribute  the  food  and 
water,  throwing  the  covers  back  as  he  goes,  when  the 
ducklings,  which  are  always  waiting,  rush  in  and  soon  fill 
themselves.  Twenty  minutes  is  all  that  is  required  for 
them  to  eat  and  drink. 


90 

A  person  of  good  judgment  can  easily  determine  about 
how  much  the  birds  will  consume,  though  it  is  well  for 
him  to  pass  along  the  walk,  giving  a  little  more  food 
where  their  wants  are  not  satisfied,  or  taking  up  what  is 
left  over,  shutting  the  covers  down  when  the  birds  are 
through. 

As  this  building  is  well  piped,  distributing  water  at 
both  ends,  as  well  as  at  the  mixing-box  and  heater,  it 
makes  the  feeding  almost  a  pastime,  the  work  is  done  so 
easily.  This  building  is  just  what  we  have  been  looking 
for.  There  are  none  on  the  place  that  pleases  us  so 
well.  Its  many  advantages  over  a  single  building  must 
be  evident  to  all.  The  increased  facility  for  doing  the 
work,  as  well  as  its  economy  in  housing  many  more  birds 
for  the  money  invested,  are  not  the  least. 

When  planning  this  building,  we  had  some  misgiving 
about  running  it  east  and  west  as  the  lay  of  the  land  re- 
quired, thinking  that  the  exposure  on  the  north  side 
during  the  inclement  weather  of  the  early  spring,  would 
confine  the  young  birds  to  the  building  and  they  would 
suffer  for  want  of  exercise,  but  we  were  agreeably  disap- 
pointed as  we  found  that  they  thrived  equally  as  well,  if 
not  better,  on  the  north  side  as  on  the  south,  proving 
what  I  have  always  known  in  duck  culture,  that  the  ex- 
treme heat  of  summer  is  more  debilitating  to  young  birds 
than  the  cold  of  winter,  and  that  early  hatched  birds  will 
always  be  of  larger  size  and  more  robust  physique  than 
late  ones. 

That  is  why  I  have  always  made  it  a  point  to  select 
my  early  hatched  birds  for  breeding  purposes.  I  have 
never  known  any  too  good  for  that.  I  insert  cuts  of  this 
double  building,  with  the  older  ducklings  on  the  north 
side  and  the  younger  ones  on  the  south.  Were  I  to  build 
another,  should  duplicate  it  in  every  respect. 


Regulation  of  Heat  in  Brooders. 

Now,  as  the  birds  grow  larger,  they  naturally  need  less 
heat,  and  we  must  contrive  to  fix  it  so  they  do  not  get  so 
much.  As  stated  before,  no  fringe  is  used  beyond  the 
first  four  brooders, — the  space  in  front  being  left  open; 
and  not  only  that,  but  we  gradually  raise  the  back  of  the 
cover  next  the  walk  until  it  opens  an  inch  or  more  the 
entire  length  of  the  pen.  Those  ducklings,  before  they 
reach  the  other  end  of  this  brooding-house,  will  weigh 
(if  well  cared  for)  over  a  pound  each. 

The  brooder  will  not  then  be  large  enough  to  hold 
them,  neither  do  they  require  the  heat,  in  fact  it  would  be 
injurious  at  this  age;  so  before  the  birds  reach  the  ex- 
treme end  of  the  building  I  shut  them  off  from  the  brood- 
ers entirely  by  placing  a  board  in  front  of  the  opening. 
The  young  birds  will  always  thrive  better  out  of  doors 
than  in;  and  when  two  weeks  old  I  always  let  them  out 
during  the  sunny  days  of  April,  by  opening  the  slides  in 
front. 

At  this  stage  of  growth  when  the  birds  are  from  two  to 
four  weeks  old,  especially  with  the  early  hatches  when 
confined  as  they  usually  are  during  the  inclement  weather 
in  winter,  unless  extreme  care  is  taken,  a  sad  mortality 
is  sure  to  follow. 

There  is  a  great  tendency  at  this  stage  of  growth,  when 
the  birds  are  confined,  to  overfeed  as  well  as  to  overheat 
in  the  brooders.  This,  coupled  with  too  little  exercise  is 
sure  to  cripple  the  birds,  weaken  their  legs  and  render 
them  helpless.  Even  experienced  growers  sometimes  get 
a  little  careless  and  lose  whole  hatches.  We  have  numer- 
ous letters  from  all  parts  of  the  country  in  which  people 
write  "My  ducklings  are  all  crippled,  cannot  walk  and 
are  dying  off  fast.  What  shall  I  do?"  There  is  only  one 
thing;  feed  sparingly,  and  give  all  the  exercise  possible. 
Often,  the  want  of  grit  will  cause  the  same  trouble. 


93 

(Our  yards  have  been  prepared  for  this  the  previous 
autumn,  and  are  now  covered  with  a  thick  coat  of  green 
rye  five  or  six  inches  high.)  To  accomplish  this,  I 
make  pens  outside  the  building  in  front,  ten  feet  long, 
and  of  a  width  to  correspond  with  the  pens  inside.  I  sim- 
ply use  old  boards  a  foot  wide,  tacking  them  together 
\vith  wire  nails,  as  it  is  only  a  temporary  arrangement. 
When  snow  falls  it  must  be  shoveled  out  at  once.  Just  as 
soon  as  the  weather  and  the  condition  of  the  ground  will 
allow,  I  set  up  the  partition  wire  outside  to  correspond 
with  the  width  of  pens  inside.  This  wire  partition  runs 
the  whole  length  of  the  yard;  and  as  the  yards  are  100 
feet  deep,  it  gives  the  ducklings  a  yard  6xioo  feet.  I  al- 
ways feed  outside  whenever  the  weather  will  permit.  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  the  sanitary  arrangements  in  this 
building  are  of  the  utmost  importance.  Indeed,  it  will 
require  constant  watchfulness  and  care  on  the  part  of  the 
attendant. 

The  Sanitary  Arrangements. 

With  several  thousand  ducklings  confined  in  one  build- 
ing, the  tendency  is  decidedly  filthy.  The  capacity  of  the 
duckling  for  filth  is  wonderful,  and  he  comes  honestly 
by  it.  It  is  simply  astonishing  how  soon  he  will  manage 
to  mix  the  contents  of  his  water-tank  with  that  of  his 
yard  and  make  both  sloppy  and  offensive.  The  chick  is 
nowhere  in  comparison.  It  is  true,  the  duck  is  not  so 
easily  affected  by  it  as  the  chick,  but  it  will  not  do  to  pre- 
sume too  much  upon  that.  At  this  stage  the  attendant 
will  be  kept  busy  every  moment  from  daylight  to  dark. 

Not  only  the  regular  feeding  four  times  a  day  requires 
his  attention,  but  the  simple  mixing  of  seventy-five  to 
one  hundred  bushels  of  feed  each  day  is  quite  a  little  job 
of  itself,  especially  when  the  different  ingredients  should 
be  exact.  The  water  tanks  also  must  be  regularly 


95 

cleaned  and  filled.  The  troughs  should  be  carefully 
cleaned  before  feeding,  as  the  ducks  will  readily  eat  all 
foreign  matter  together  with  the  food.  In  short,  the 
whole  business  must  be  systematized  all  the  way  through, 
and  the  attendant  should  understand  that  it  is  never  safe 
to  neglect  a  single  detail. 

I  had  always  made  a  point  of  doing  this  duty  myself. 
A  few  years  ago,  not  feeling  well  and  having  other 
business  requiring  my  attention,  I  engaged  a  man  whom 
I  considered  competent  to  do  this  business  for  me.  I 
took  him  over  the  yards,  showed  and  told  him  just  how 
the  thing  must  be  done;  watched  him  to  see  that  he  did 
the  work  faithfully  and  complied  with  all  its  details. 
Things  went  on  apparently  well  for  a  week  or  two,  when, 
going  home  one  day,  I  noticed  a  number  of  dead  duck- 
lings lying  around,  and  looking  under  the  brooder  I 
found  quite  a  number  more.  1  at  once  interviewed  the 
man  and  cautioned  him.  He  insisted  that  he  had  fol- 
lowed the  instructions  to  the  letter.  But  the  mortality 
did  not  abate,  on  the  contrary  it  increased  to  an  alarming 
extent;  and  I  had  lost  more  ducklings  in  one  month  than 
1  had  lost  for  ten  years  previous. 

I  watched  him  and  found  that  the  feeding-troughs 
were  not  cleaned  at  all,  and  when  the  birds  scattered 
the  sawdust  in  them  the  food  was  thrown  on  that,  the 
ducklings  consuming  both.  The  food  was  thrown  partly 
in  the  trough  and  partly  on  the  ground;  apparently  a 
matter  of  perfect  indifference  to  him.  The  water-tanks 
were  not  rinsed  out.  Instead  of  stepping  over  the 
eighteen-inch  partition  wires  he  stepped  on  them,  break- 
ing down  the  standards  and  flattening  down  the  wire,  so 
that  the  birds  were  all  mixed  together  promiscuously, — 
ducklings  two  weeks  old  with  those  of  six  weeks.  The 
little  ones  were  trodden  down  by  the  older  ones  and  al- 
most denuded  of  their  feathers,  and  there  was  no  thrift 


97 

to  be  seen  anywhere.  To  say  that  I  was  indignant  does 
not  express  it.  I  had  often  seen  such  a  condition  of 
things  elsewhere,  but  not  before  on  my  own  ranch;  I  was 
absolutely  ashamed  to  show  visitors  around  the  yards 
as  long  as  this  state  of  things  existed. 

That  man  was  promptly  discharged,  and  I  undertook 
the  feeding  myself.  The  birds  were  sorted  out  and  re- 
turned to  their  own  yards,  the  wire  replaced,  the  feeding- 
troughs  cleaned,  the  pens  carefully  disinfected.  In  four 
days  double  the  amount  of  food  was  consumed  and 
things  were  decidedly  improved.  But  those  birds  never 
acquired  that  uniformity  of  size  and  appearance  which 
had  always  characterized  my  market  birds.  The  best 
material  to  use  in  the  pens  inside  the  brooding-house  is 
dry,  fine  sawdust,  if  it  can  be  obtained.  It  is  by  far  the 
best  thing  I  know  of  for  the  purpose.  The  next  best  is 
finely  chopped  straw  or  hay,  tanbark,  etc.  The  brooders, 
like  the  pens,  require  close  attention.  The  top  should 
be  scraped  off  before  it  becomes  offensive,  and  new  ma- 
terial applied.  This  can  be  easily  done  by  simply  lifting 
the  edge  of  the  cover  next  the  walk  and  drawing  it  over 
into  the  walk,  when  it  can  be  taken  in  a  barrow  or  basket. 

The  Necessity  of  Green  Food. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  as  the  broods  grow  older 
the  cleaning  process  must  be  repeated  oftener,  as  their 
capacity  for  generating  filth  will  always  be  in  proportion 
to  their  size.  Those  unacquainted  with  duck-culture  have 
little  idea  how  fast  these  birds  will  grow;  how  soon 
they  will  successively  outgrow  brooders,  pens  and  yards, 
and  how  soon  every  vestige  of  green  will  disappear  from 
yards  that  were  thickly  covered  with  rye.  But  the  duck- 
lings must  be  kept  growing  at  all  hazards,  and  a  vege- 
table supply  must  be  procured  from  outside. 

Rye  comes  first  in  the  season   (I  always  cultivate  it 


99 

for  the  purpose,  and  when  coarse,  it  must  be  cut  so  that  it 
can  be  readily  eaten)  ;  then  grass;  and  next  corn  fodder, 
which  is  best  of  all.  It  is  astonishing  how  much  of  the 
latter  these  birds  will  consume — hundreds  of  pounds  each 
day.  It  should  be  cut  very  fine,  not  more  than  one-third 
of  an  inch  in  length.  Unlike  the  hen,  the  birds  prefer  the 
stalk  to  the  leaf.  Give  them  all  they  will  eat,  once  each 
day.  [But  we  have  forgotten  that  empty  machine.  After 
the  ducklings  are  taken  out  it  will  be  found  running  at 
85  to  90  degrees.  I  gauge  it  up  to  102  and  fill  it  with 
fresh  eggs  at  once,  not  forgetting  to  fill  one  tray 
in  the  little  tender.]  There  is  one  bad  habit  to  which 
ducklings  of  four  or  five  weeks  old  are  addicted,  and  that 
is  feather  eating.  First  the  down  will  begin  to  disappear 
from  their  backs;  next,  as  the  birds  grow  older,  the  quills 
which  grow  out  from  the  end  of  the  wings  will  disap- 
pear, and  they  are  all  exposed  for  tempting  morsels. 

These  quills  bleed  profusely  when  disturbed,  which,  of 
course,  seriously  retards  the  growth  and  progress  of  the 
birds.  This  vice  should  be  checked  at  once,  for  vice  it 
is, — superinduced  by  idleness  and  close  confinement. 
When  the  first  indications  of  these  troubles  appear,  the 
attendant  should  watch  the  birds  closely  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, when  the  aggressors  can  soon  be  detected.  They 
should  be  removed  at  once  and  confined  by  themselves, 
or  placed  in  yards  with  older  birds  already  feathered  out, 
which  affords  them  no  temptation  to  practice  their  newly 
acquired  art. 

If  this  is  not  done  at  once  the  vice  becomes  general, 
and  disastrous  consequences  are  sure  to  follow.  If  it  has 
already  attained  headway,  before  the  novice  detects  it, 
he  must  change  them  to  new  quarters;  a  grassy  area  is 
best,  where  they  usually  forget  all  about  it.  This  can 
be  readily  done,  as  the  operator  should  always  have  a 
spare  roll  of  eighteen-inch  wire  netting  on  hand  with 


103 

which  he  can  enclose  a  given  area  in  a  few  moments. 
Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  favor  of  this  wire,  it  is  so 
cheap,  portable  and  com^enient.  It  can  be  taken  up  and 
removed  in  an  incredibly  short  time  to  facilitate  plowing 
and  disinfecting  the  yards.  While  it  effectually  separates 
the  birds,  it  affords  little  or  no  impediment  to  the  atten- 
dant during  the  process  of  watering  and  feeding.  I  fasten 
this  wire  up  to  short  stakes  driven  in  the  ground,  using 
small  staples  for  the  purpose.  When  removed  it  can  be 
rolled  up,  stakes  and  all,  without  disturbing  the  staples. 

It  is  then  ready  for  resetting  or  stowing  away  for  next 
season's  work.  This  wire  is  now  the  cheapest  of  all 
fencing  for  poultry  work, — much  more  so,  even,  than 
lath-fencing;  and  has  the  great  advantage  of  being  port- 
able and  far  more  durable  than  any  other  material.  Two- 
inch  mesh,  No.  19  wire,  can  be  had  now  for  three- 
quarters  cent  a  square  foot  by  the  single  roll,  and  pro- 
portionately cheaper  by  the  quantity.  Never  purchase 
No.  20  wire,  as  it  will  prove  unsatisfactory  in  the  end. 
It  is  not  self-supporting  and  can  only  be  kept  in  position 
by  boards,  both  above  and  below.  There  is  great  dif- 
ference in  the  quality  of  this  wire;  that  made  by  some 
firms  being  of  so  soft  material  that  it  will  not  stand 
alone.  The  squares  soon  become  ellipses,  and  your 
eighteen-inch  wire  settles  to  a  foot.  The  best  I  have 
ever  used  is  that  made  by  the  Gilbert  &  Bennett  Manu- 
facturing Company,  Georgetown,  Conn. 

Previous  to  this  our  oldest  ducklings  will  have  reached 
the  extreme  end  of  the  brooding-house,  and  it  will  be 
filled  to  its  utmost  capacity.  In  order  to  make  room  for 
the  successive  hatches  I  drive  the  older  hatches  out  and 
round  to  my  cold  buildings,  two  in  number.  These  build- 
ings are  each  seventy-five  feet  long,  with  contiguous 
yards  one  hundred  feet  deep.  The  slides  in  the  buildings 
are  left  open,  and  the  ducklings  are  at  liberty  to  go  out 


104 

OF  in  as  they  see  fit, — a  privilege  of  which  they  avail 
themselves  as  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  inclines.  These 
yards  always  have  a  thick  mat  of  rye  growing  on  them. 
The  partition  wires  have  been  set  up  and  the  young 
birds  are  quietly  driven  to  their  respective  quarters. 

After  ducklings  reach  the  age  of  six  weeks,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  confine  them  in  buildings  during  the  night. 
Indeed,  they  are  far  better  not,  unless  it  is  extremely  cold, 
or  there  is  danger  from  vermin.  Even  severe  rainstorms 
will  not  injure  them.  They  should  be  watched  carefully, 
however,  as  they  are  apt,  during  their  antics,  to  fall  over 
on  their  backs,  when,  through  suction  from  the  wet  and 
muddy  ground,  they  are  seldom  able  to  turn  back  again. 
Prompt  assistance  should  be  rendered,  or  it  will  surely 
be  too  late,  as  the  back  of  a  duckling  is  his  most  suscep- 
tible part.  After  the  birds  are  six  weeks  old  it  will  not  be 
necessary  to  feed  more  than  three  times  per  day,  grad- 
ually substituting  meal  for  bran,  until  the  birds  are  eight 
weeks  old,  when  their  food  should  be,  at  least,  three- 
quarters  meal.  There  should  also  be  a  steady  increase 
of  animal  food  after  the  seventh  week. 

Careful  Watering  Even  More  Essential  Than  Food. 

Particular  care  should  be  taken  at  this  time  to  give 
the  birds  all  they  need  to  drink,  or  your  food  will  be 
thrown  away,  as  they  require  more  water  during  the 
warm  weather.  They  will  consume  and  waste  vast  quan- 
tities, and  the  water  supply  should  be  made  as  conven- 
ient as  possible,  to  facilitate  the  business.  Our  water  is 
forced  by  a  windmill  into  a  two  hundred-barrel  tank,  and 
leads  from  there  through  pipes  into  brooding  and  breed- 
ing houses,  into  the  yards  and  mixing  room, — all  with  a 
view  to  saving  labor  and  time.  The  water-pans  in  the 
buildings  are  raised  six  or  eight  inches  from  the  ground 
to  prevent  the  birds  getting  in  or  wasting  the  water. 


103 

At  this  stage,  during  warm,  dry  spells,  the  dried  excre- 
ment of  the  birds  will  accumulate  on  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  This,  as  a  matter  of  economy,  as  well  as  a 
sanitary  necessity,  should  be  carefully  swept  up  before  a 
rain,  as  the  birds  will  sometimes  drink  water  from  the 
puddles  standing  around,  and  it  will  often  seriously  af- 
fect their  appetites,  as  both  yards  and  droppings  are  very 
offensive  when  wet.  Shade  is  absolutely  necessary  at  this 
age  during  warm  weather,  as  ducklings  can  never  be 
made  in  good  condition  when  exposed  to  the  sun  during 
the  extreme  heat  of  summer.  It  affects  their  appetites  at 
once,  reducing  the  consumption  of  food  by  one-half.  It 
is  always  well,  if  possible,  to  locate  your  yards  so  that 
the  birds  can  have  access  to  shade.  If  not,  artificial 
shade  must  be  constructed  to  meet  the  ends. 

My  plan  is  to  set  up  four  stakes,  about  6xio  feet,  form- 
ing a  parallelogram.  Sideboards  should  be  nailed  on 
these  stakes  about  two  feet  high.  These  can  be  covered 
with  old  boards,  pine  boughs,  bushes,  or  thatched  over 
with  meadow  hay, — whatever  is  most  convenient  to  the 
grower.  Great  care  should  be  taken  in  feeding  by  giving 
all  the  concentrated  food  the  birds  can  be  made  to  eat, 
and  no  more,  as  the  largest  of  them  will  be  ready  for  mar- 
ket when  nine  weeks  old.  Frighten  and  excite  the  birds 
as  little  as  possible  while  sorting  them.  The  best  way  to 
do  this  is  to  use  a  wide  board  some  ten  feet  long,  with 
two  holes  cut  in  the  upper  side  near  the  middle.  These 
holes  should  be  two  feet  apart,  and  large  enough  to  ad- 
mit the  hands  for  convenient  handling.  Fifteen  or  twenty 
of  the  birds  should  be  driven  in  a  corner  and  confined 
with  this  board.  The  birds  should  now  be  taken  by  the 
neck,  one  at  a  time,  the  largest  and  choicest  selected  for 
market,  the  rejected  ones  put  in  a  temporary  yard  by 
themselves. 

This  process  should  be  repeated  until  the  whole  hatch 


107 

is  sorted,  when  the  culls  can  be  returned  to  their  old  quar- 
ters. They  will  have  a  better  chance  than  before,  and  in 
a  few  days  will  be  as  good  as  the  others.  The  oldest 
hatches,  which  usually  come  out  in  February  and  March, 
are  all  sent  to  market.  The  price  is  too  high  to  save  for 
breeders,  but  from  subsequent  hatches,  those  that  come 
out  in  April  and  May,  we  select  our  breeding  stock. 

How  to  Select  Breeding  Stock. 

Even  these  birds  will  command  a  high  price,  but  I 
cannot  afford  to  wait  longer.  I  am  very  particular  in  this 
selection.  The  birds  must  not  only  be  of  the  largest  size, 
but  of  the  most  perfect  form.  The  contour  of  head  and 
neck,  size  and  shape  of  bill,  length  and  width  of  body,  all 
are  taken  into  consideration.  As  a  consequence,  not 
more  than  one  in  ten  will  be  found  to  fill  the  bill,  and  my 
2,500  breeding  birds  will  be  selected  from  many  thou- 
sands. The  result  of  all  this  care  and  solicitude  on  my 
part  has  been  extremely  gratifying,  as  it  has  not  only 
given  me  the  control  of  the  fancy  market,  but  the  birds 
have  always  commanded  a  higher  price  in  the  general 
market  on  account  of  their  large  size  and  fattening  prop- 
erties. 

As  the  ducklings  are  now  ready  for  market,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  the  grower  should  make  some  arrangements  for 
disposing  of  them.  He  cannot  afford  to  sell  them  alive 
to  the  carts,  for  though  this  may  be  a  great  convenience 
to  persons  who  grow  a  few  fowls,  the  profits  which  enable 
these  parties  to  run  their  collecting  carts  all  over  the 
country,  and  hire  men  to  pick  and  dress  their  fowls,  will 
be  quite  an  item  in  the  pocket  of  the  one  who  grows  on 
a  large  scale.  The  best  plan  for  him  is  to  hire  an  ex- 
pert to  do  his  picking  for  him,  and  if  he  cannot  get  one, 
to  take  lessons  of  one  so  that  he  can  do  it  himself.  This 
is  a  very  particular  business^  as  there  is  a  great  knack  in 


109 

it.  Years  ago  I  thought  I  knew  something  about  picking 
ducks,  but  after  watching  an  expert  for  thirty  minutes  I 
was  enabled  to  double  my  day's  work. 

This  usually  has  the  same  effect  upon  others.  For 
though  it  may  be  weeks  before  the  tyro  will  be  able  to  do 
what  would  be  called  a  fair  day's  work,  yet  if  he  keeps  his 
wits  about  him,  and  is  endowed  with  a  fair  share  of  en- 
ergy, there  will  be  constant  improvement.  I  received  a 
letter  a  short  time  since  from  a  lady  in  Ohio,  saying  that 
she  was  very  much  interested  in  growing  ducklings,  and 
was  satisfied  that  there  was  money  in  it,  but  that  her 
greatest  trouble  was  in  getting  them  picked,  as  it  can- 
celled a  large  share  of  the  profits,  and  that  she  hired  a 
woman  for  the  purpose  and  paid  her  twenty-five  cents 
apiece  for  picking;  at  the  same  time  saying  that  she 
could  not  bear  to  pay  the  woman  less,  as  it  took  her  a 
half  day  to  pick  one  duck. 

Method  of  Dressing  Ducklings. 

A  fair  day's  work  for  an  expert  is  forty  ducks  per  day, 
though  I  have  had  men  who  could  pick  seventy-five  and 
do  it  well.  The  process  is  very  simple.  All  that  is  neces- 
sary is  a  chair,  a  box  2x3  feet  and  2  feet  high  for  the 
feathers,  a  few  knives,  and  a  smart  man  to  handle  them. 
One  knife  should  be  double-edged  and  sharp-pointed,  for 
bleeding.  The  bird  should  be  held  between  the  knees, 
the  bill  held  open  with  the  left  hand,  and  a  cut  made 
across  the  roof  of  the  mouth  just  below  the  eyes.  The 
bird  should  then  be  stunned  by  striking  its  head  against 
a  post,  or  some  hard  substance. 

The  picker  seats  himself  in  the  chair,  with  the  bird  in 
his  lap,  its  head  held  firmly  between  one  knee  and  the 
box.  The  sooner  he  gets  at  it  the  better,  and  if  he  is 
smart  he  will  have  the  bird  well  plucked  by  the  time  life  is 
extinct.  The  feathers  should  be  carefully  sorted  while 


Ill 

picking;  the  wing  and  tail-feathers  and  pins  thrown  away 
and  the  body  feathers,  with  the  down,  thrown  into  the 
box.  Care  should  be  taken  about  this,  as  the  feathers  are 
no  mean  source  of  income,  and  will  always  pay  for  the 
picking.  A  dull  knife  should  be  used  in  connection  with 
the  thumb  in  removing  the  long  pins,  and,  in  fact,  all  that 
can  be  removed  without  tearing  the  skin.  The  down  can 
usually  be  rubbed  off  by  slightly  moistening  the  hand 
and  holding  the  skin  tight.  As  there  are  often  some  pins 
which  cannot  be  taken  out  without  tearing  and  disfigur- 
ing the  skin,  and  some  down  that  will  not  rub  off,  they 
must  me  shaved  off.  A  knife  should  be  kept  for  the 
purpose.  This  knife  should  be  made  of  the  finest  oil- 
tempered  steel,  and  must  be  sharper  than  the  best  razor. 
The  tops  of  the  wings  should  be  left  on,  and  the  bird 
picked  half  way  down  the  neck.  The  bird  should  not 
be  drawn  nor  the  head  removed.  All  this  is  in  reality 
done  in  much  shorter  time  than  is  required  to  describe  it. 
The  expert  performs  his  duties  mechanically.  The  feath- 
ers actually  seem  to  stick  to  his  fingers,  and  he  will  in 
seven  minutes  pick  a  duck  in  far  better  shape  than  a 
novice  would  in  an  hour.  The  bird  on  being  picked, 
should,  after  the  blood  is  washed  carefully  from  the  head, 
be  thrown  into  a  barrel  or  tank  of  floating  ice.  It  will 
harden  up  so  that  its  rotundity  of  outline  will  be  pre- 
served. 

This  method  is  far  better  than  that  practiced  by  some 
parties,  who  pack  their  birds  in  ice  at  once,  where  the 
bodies  are  compressed  into  all  manner  of  shapes  and 
harden  up  in  that  position,  and  never  again  can  acquire 
that  attractive  appearance  and  rounded  outline  which  a 
well-fattened  duckling  should  present.  After  the  birds 
are  hardened  they  should  be  packed  close  in  light  boxes, 
back  down,  with  the  head  under  the  wing,  and  if  your 
market  is  within  twelve  hours  ride,  can  be  safely  shipped 


112 

without  ice,  and  they  will  always  arrive  in  good  condi- 
tion. Dealers  like  to  have  them  come  in  this  way,  they 
look  so  much  nicer  and  are  far  more  saleable. 

I  have  boxes  for  the  purpose,  of  different  sizes,  hold- 
ing, when  closely  packed,  twelve,  eighteen  and  thirty-six 
pairs  of  birds.  These  boxes  are  light,  made  of  live-eighth 
inch  pine,  are  strongly  cleated  at  the  corners  and  ends, 
and  are  fitted  with  hinged  covers,  fastened  down  with 
clasps  and  screws.  I  find  this  much  the  best  way,  as 
the  birds  always  preserve  their  shape  and  arrive  in  good 
condition,  while  express  companies  return  the  empty 
boxes  free,  and  when  they  "get  the  hang  of  it"  soon  learn 
to  deliver  promptly  and  handle  carefully. 

How  to  Ship  Poultry. 

In  shipping  poultry  the  first  thing  the  young  poulterer 
should  do  is  to  establish  a  reputation  among  the  first- 
class  dealers  in  his  vicinity.  This  can  only  be  done  by 
shipping  first-class  stock.  Never  kill  a  bird  unless  it  is 
in  good  condition.  Pick  and  dress  them  neatly,  box  them 
carefully,  and  they  will  always  command  a  good  price 
and  a  ready  sale;  while  equally  as  good  stock,  slovenly 
and  carelessly  thrown  together,  will  go  begging.  I  have 
often  seen  good  stock  cut  several  cents  per  pound,  owing 
to  the  shipper's  carelessness. 

A  prominent  dealer  in  Boston  said  to  me  one  day, 
pointing  to  a  barrel  of  poultry,  "The  man  who  shipped 
that  stuff  is  a  fool!  Look  here!"  He  opened  the  bar- 
rel,— it  was  half  full  of  ducks  fairly  well  fatted  and  picked. 
But  how  those  ducks  looked.  The  shipper  had  evidently 
thrown  those  birds  in  head  first,  or  any  way  to  suit,  and 
then  had  thrown  a  lot  of  ice  on  the  top.  The  barrel  not 
being  very  clean,  he  had  introduced  blue  paper  between 
the  ducks  and  barrel.  The  ice  had  melted,  the  barrel  had 
been  capsized  repeatedly  during  transit,  and  the  paper 


113 

had  been  completely  disintegrated.  It  was  stuck  all  over 
the  ducks  in  little  patches  and  rubbed  in,  while  the 
birds  had  acquired  a  fine  tint  of  blue  that  would  have 
done  credit  to  a  laundryman. 

'There/'  said  the  dealer,  "I  shall  have  to  cut  that  man 
four  cents  per  pound."  If  occasionally  you  should  have 
poor  stock  always  ship  it  by  itself,  and  notify  your  dealer 
of  its  quality.  He  will  know  it  soon  enough  without  you 
telling  him,  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  will  know  that  you 
are  not  trying  to  put  a  poor  article  on  him  for  a  good  one. 
One  or  two  pairs  of  poor  birds  in  a  box  of  good  ones 
will  often  affect  the  price  of  the  whole.  Never  pack  a 
bird  till  after  the  animal  heat  is  out.  By  a  close  observ- 
ance of  the  above,  the  time  will  soon  come  when  you 
will  have  no  trouble  in  selling  your  stock.  You  will 
have  more  orders  than  you  will  be  able  to  fill. 

The  past  season  has  been  a  very  satisfactory  one  to  us,, 
as  we  have  not  only  largely  increased  our  business,  but 
the  prices  obtained  have  been  better  than  ever  before, 
while  we  have  been  overwhelmed  with  orders  from  deal- 
ers in  New  York  and  Boston  which  we  have  been  wholly 
unable  to  fill. 

But  to  return  to  the  feathers.  They  should  be  taken  up 
every  day  and  spread  out  thinly  on  a  dry  floor,  turned  oc- 
casionally, and,  in  a  few  days,  when  thoroughly  dry,  can 
be  thrown  in  a  heap.  Do  not  neglect  this,  for  if  allowed 
to  accumulate  they  soon  become  offensive,  and  nothing 
but  superheated  steam  will  ever  deordize  them,  and  be 
sure  that  the  feather  firms  will  always  take  advantage 
of  this  and  charge  you  roundly  for  doing  it. 

Disinfecting  the  Ground  a  Necessity. 

When  we  first  begin  shipping  for  market,  our  yards 
are  usually  filled  to  their  utmost  capacity,  and  we  are 
often  crowded  for  room.  As  fast  as  the  yards  are  emp- 


114 

tied,  they  should  be  disinfected  by  turning  them  and 
sowing  a  crop  of  oats  at  once.  By  the  time  these  oats 
are  two  or  three  inches  high  they  can  be  reoccupied  by 
young  birds,  so  that  two  crops  can  be  grown  upon  the 
same  ground  each  season. 

My  plan  is  this:  I  do  not  heat  my  brooding-house 
artificially  after  the  first  of  June,  as  the  building  will 
always  be  warm  enough  at  that  date  for  ducklings  ten 
days  old,  without  artificial  heat.  I  locate  some  of  my 
large  duck-brooders  a  short  distance  apart  out-of-doors, 
building  a  square  pen  in  front  of  them,  8x12  feet,  with 
boards  a  foot  wide.  Into  these  brooders  I  put  the  newly- 
hatched  ducklings  as  they  come  out.  They  need  artificial 
heat  the  first  few  days.  Of  course  it  would  be  poor  policy 
to  run  the  heater  for  the  benefit  of  a  few  when  it  would 
be  a  decided  injury  to  thousands. 

When  the  ducklings  no  longer  require  heat,  which  will 
be  in  a  very  few  days,  I  remove  them  at  once,  either  to 
the  brooding-house  or  to  the  vacated  yards  above  men- 
tioned, when  by  this  time  the  oats  will  be  high  enough 
to  furnish  them  with  green  food.  The  business  is  man- 
aged in  this  way  as  long  as  there  are  eggs  to  hatch.  I 
use  the  eggs  for  incubating  long  after  I  cease  putting 
them  out;  for,  if  there  is  but  one-third  fertile,  it  is  more 
profitable  to  hatch  them  than  to  market  them,  as  the 
prices  on  young  ducklings  after  the  middle  of  October 
usually  rule  some  three  or  four  cents  higher  per  pound 
than  during  August  and  September. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  months,  when  things 
are  under  full  headway,  there  is  naturally  great  care  and 
responsibility.  It  will  not  do  to  make  too  many  mistakes 
or  neglect  necessary  duties.  The  young  birds  must  be 
fed  regularly  and  given  the  differently  prepared  foods  ac- 
cording to  age, — water  supplied,  grass  and  corn  fodder 
cut  and  distributed  according  to  need.  Lamps  to  trim 


115 

and  replenish,  eight  thousand  eggs  to  turn  twice  each 
day;  a  new  hatch  of  ducklings  coming  off  nearly  every 
day;  the  machine  to  be  rilled  with  nicely  washed  eggs; 
one  to  two  thousand  pounds  of  ducklings  dressed  and 
packed  for  market  daily;  cleaning  and  disinfecting  yards; 
entertaining  visitors,  who  flock  here  by  dozens, — furnish 
all  the  occupation  we  need.  Indeed,  were  it  not  for  the 
immense  profits  attending  the  business,  we  might  con- 
sider it  rather  more  than  we  ought  to  do. 

I  disinfect  my  duck  yards  with  rye  about  Sept.  i.  When, 
in  this  climate,  frost  has  destroyed  all  green  vegetable 
life,  then  rye  is  in  its  prime.  If  sowed  September  I, 
in  duck  yards,  it  will  attain  a  height  of  eighteen  inches, 
and  if  sowed  thickly  will  crop  many  tons  to  the  acre. 
When  corn-fodder  is  gone,  we  use  green  clover,  then 
turnip,  cabbage  and  green  rye  in  turn  and  then  just 
before  a  snow  storm  we  cut  a  large  quantity  of  the 
frozen  rye  and  pile  it  up  in  the  shade,  where,  of  course,  it 
will  neither  heat  or  thaw.  Should  we  get  out  before  the 
snow  is  gone,  we  always  have  surplus  of  clover-rowen 
cured  for  the  purpose. 

This,  together  with  refuse  cabbage  and  boiled  turnips, 
small  potatoes,  etc.,  makes  a  fine  winter  diet  on  which 
breeding  ducks  will  always  thrive  if  the  other  ingredients 
are  properly  mixed, — a  diet  upon  which,  combined  with 
housing  and  plenty  of  exercise,  the  birds  are  bound  to 
contribute  a  good  quota  of  strong  fertile  eggs.  I  men- 
tion this  particularly  here,  because  the  mortality  among 
young  birds  will  depend  largely  upon  the  strength  and 
vitality  of  the  eggs  from  which  they  come. 

Natural  Duck-Culture. 

Doubtless  some  of  my  readers  are  getting  impatient 
and  saying  to  themselves,  "Why  do  you  not  give  us  some 
ideas  how  to  do  this  business  in  the  natural  way?  Many 


116 

of  us  wish  to  begin  small.  Every  one  has  not  the  con- 
veniences to  use  or  the  means  to  command  incubators." 
I  am  coming  to  that.  I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  using 
hens  to  incubate  with  some  twenty  years  ago;  and  the 
persistent  obstinacy  of  the  perverse  birds,  the  large  pro- 
portion of  valuable  eggs  spoiled  and  broken,  as  well  as 
the  time  consumed  in  caring  for  them,  are  still  fresh  in 
my  memory.  It  was  wholesome  discipline  for  me.  It  will 
be  the  same  to  the  reader,  and  enable  him  to  appreciate 
a  good  incubator  later  on. 

A  good,  quiet  hen,  who  attends  closely  to  her  business, 
will  always  hatch  as  large  a  proportion  of  her  eggs  as  a 
good  incubator;  but  there  are  so  many  with  dispositions 
quite  the  opposite  of  this  that  it  leaves  the  odds  largely 
in  favor  of  the  machine.  Success  with  hens  depends  quite 
as  much  with  the  operator  as  with  machines.  He  must 
begin  right  and  hold  out  to  the  end.  As  ducks  seldom 
make  good  incubators,  he  will  have  to  rely  upon  hens  to 
do  that  business  for  him.  The  best  breeds  for  that  pur- 
pose I  have  found  to  be  the  Brahma  or  Plymouth  Rock. 
A  cross  of  these  birds  makes  a  good  quiet  sitter. 

The  birds  must  be  got  out  early  so  that  they  will  begin 
laying  in  the  fall  and  be  ready  to  incubate  by  the  time  you 
want  them.  It  is  well  to  have  a  room  for  the  purpose  and 
have  the  sitters  by  themselves.  The  nests  should  be  in 
rows  around  the  room,  the  feeding  and  water-troughs 
in  the  centre,  with  the  dust-bath  at  one  end.  The  nest 
boxes  should  be  some  fourteen  inches  square  and  about 
a  foot  high.  Each  one  should  be  furnished  with  a  slide  so 
that  the  bird  can  be  confined  when  necessary.  If  the 
slide  is  planed,  all  the  better,  as  the  date  of  the  sitter  can 
then  be  marked  on  it.  The  first  thing  is  to  prepare  the 
nests.  There  is  quite  a  knack  in  this;  indeed,  success 
largely  depends  upon  this  one  thing. 

The  best  material  for  this  is  soft  hay  or  straw,  cut  six 


117 

or  eight  inches  long,  placed  upon  a  soil  bottom.  The 
sides  of  this  nest  should  be  packed  hard,  the  bottom 
smooth  and  slightly  concaved,  not  too  much,  as  the 
tendency  then  would  be  to  break  the  eggs  if  they  crowded 
towards  the  centre.  There  should  be  plenty  of  room  in 
the  nest  for  the  bird's  feet  and  legs  and  the  eggs  too,  so 
that  she  can  turn  at  will  without  danger  of  breaking  them. 
A  piece  of  tarred  paper  five  or  six  inches  square,  should 
be  placed  on  the  soil  in  the  bottom  of  the  nest;  the  whole 
covered  with  a  half  inch  of  finely  cut  straw.  A  few 
porcelain  eggs  should  be  placed  in  the  nest,  and  when  a 
hen  shows  a  strong  desire  to  incubate  she  should  be 
placed  upon  the  nest  and  the  slide  closed,  giving  the 
bird  all  the  air  she  needs. 

This  removal  should  be  made  after  dark  as  the  birds 
are  always  more  gentle  then.  It  is  well  to  set  a  number 
of  hens  at  once,  if  they  can  be  had,  for  reasons  that  will 
shortly  appear.  If  the  birds  take  kindly  to  the  porcelain 
eggs  they  can  be  removed  the  next  evening  and  replaced 
with  ducks'  eggs.  As  they  are  much  larger  than  hen's 
eggs,  nine  or  ten  will  be  enough  in  cold  weather  and 
eleven  or  twelve  in  warm ;  proportioned,  of  course,  some- 
thing to  the  size  of  the  bird.  I  always  take  the  birds  from 
their  nests  at  a  certain  time  every  day;  they  will  learn 
to  expect  it.  This  should  be  done  during  the  warmest 
part  of  the  clay. 

Handle  Your  Hens  Carefully. 

Now  is  the  time  to  exercise  caution.  Take  your  birds 
off  carefully  several  at  a  time.  If  one  should  fly  in  your 
face,  break  her  eggs  and  spatter  the  contents  over  your 
person,  and  you  should  feel  like  wringing  her  neck,  don't 
do  it;  you  would  only  be  so  much  out.  Take  things 
easy,  don't  get  mad;  she  may  do  better  next  time,  if  not, 
replace  her  with  one  that  will.  When  taking  your  birds 


118 

off  in  cold  weather  cover  the  eggs  at  once  with  a  circular 
piece  of  heavy  paper  previously  prepared,  and  they  will 
not  cool  perceptibly  during  the  fifteen  minutes  the  birds 
are  off.  Be  sure  and  return  each  bird  to  her  own  nest, 
for  if  you  have  an  uneasy  sitter,  though  she  may  spoil 
her  own  eggs,  she  should  have  no  opportunity  to  spoil 
those  of  others. 

Besides,  if  you  do  not,  hens  that  have  been  sitting  but 
a  day  or  two  may  be  placed  upon  eggs  just  ready  to  hatch 
when  she  will  not  take  kindly  to  the  young  birds  as  they 
hatch,  and  a  great  mortality  is  sure  to  follow.  If  you 
should  be  running  100  sitters,  the  more  you  can  take 
off  at  a  time  the  sooner  you  will  get  through.  Have  a 
sponge  and  warm  water  handy  as  you  will  have  more  or 
less  broken  eggs.  The  rest  should  be  washed  clean  at 
once  and  returned  to  the  nest.  When  hatching  out  be 
sure  and  remove  the  little  ducklings,  as  fast  as  they  come 
out,  to  a  warm  place  to  dry  off,  as  owing  to  their  long 
necks  and  peculiar  shape  the  mother  hen  will  uncon- 
sciously crush  many  more  of  them  than  she  would  of 
chicks.  In  fact,  they  should  never  see  the  hen  after 
being  taken  away,  as  they  can  be  grown  to  much  better 
advantage,  and  with  far  less  mortality,  in  brooders. 

And  just  here  is  the  great  economy  of  setting  six  or 
eight  hens  at  the  same  time;  the  young  ducklings  can  be 
all  put  together  in  one  brooder  and  cared  for  with  less 
trouble  and  with  less  mortality  than  that  resulting  from 
one  hen  with  her  brood.  The  ducklings  should  be  con- 
fined in  yards,  the  same  care  and  feed  given  them  as  al- 
ready recommended  for  artificially  hatched  birds.  Allu- 
sion has  already  been  made  to  the  proverbial  timidity 
of  the  Pekin  duck.  This  sometimes  causes  trouble  to  the 
grower  when  the  birds  are  confined  together  in  large 
numbers.  When  six  or  eight  weeks  old,  and  even  after 
they  are  full  grown,  they  often  get  frightened,  gr  gallied 


as  it  were,  in  dark  nights.  Being  unable  to  see,  one 
bird  will  touch  another,  he  will  spring  away  and  come 
in  contact  with  several  more. 

In  an  instant  the  whole  are  in  the  most  violent  commo- 
tion, whirling  and  treading  each  other  down.  It  will  be 
a  perfect  stampede  and  will  sometimes  be  kept  up  the 
entire  night.  After  a  night  of  such  dissipation  many  of 
the  birds  will  appear  completely  jaded  out,  and  some  of 
them  unable  to  rise.  Of  course,  this  must  be  stopped  at 
once  or  the  grower  may  bid  farewell  to  all  fattening  or 
laying  on  the  part  of  the  birds.  Hanging  lanterns  in  the 
yards  at  stated  distances  will  usually  restore  order.  It 
will  not  be  needed  when  there  is  a  moon.  See  that  there 
are  no  sharp  projections  in  either  yards  or  breeding-pens, 
as  both  old  and  young  birds  are  often  lamed  for  life  by 
simply  coming  in  contact  with  them  in  the  night. 

Too  much  care  cannot  be  exercised  on  this  point,  as 
the  bones  of  the  birds  are  so  small  and  their  bodies  so 
frail.  As  has  been  intimated  before,  ducks  are  not  sub- 
ject to  so  many  diseases  as  hens, — while  they  are  entirely 
free  from  lice  or  body  parasites  of  any  kind.  Indeed,  I 
never  saw  a  louse  on  a  duck  in  all  my  experience.  Still, 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  good  sanitary  conditions,  to- 
gether with  plenty  of  pure  air  and  water,  will  not  only 
greatly  increase  the  egg-production,  but  facilitate  the 
growth  and  improve  the  properties  of  the  duckling. 

Ducklings  when  confined  to  yards  are  sometimes 
troubled  with  sore  eyes.  The  adjacent  parts  become  in- 
flamed, the  head  slightly  swelled.  This  is  caused  by 
feeding  sloppy  food,  and  from  filthy  quarters.  The  feath- 
ers around  the  eyes  become  filled  with  the  food,  the  dust 
adheres  to  them.  The  eye  is  naturally  inflamed.  Wash- 
ing out  thoroughly  and  bathing  the  eye  with  a  little  sweet 
oil  will  usually  effect  a  cure. 


120 
Diarrhoea* 

Young  ducklings  are  sometimes  afflicted  with  diar- 
rhoea. This  disease  is  caused  more  by  overheating 
brooders  and  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  mother 
bird  than  from  improper  food.  Do  not  over-feed  or  over- 
heat the  ducklings.  Feed  bread  or  cracker  crumbs, 
moistened  with  boiled  milk,  into  which  a  little  powdered 
chalk  has  been  dusted. 

Abnormal  Livers. 

This  disease  is  the  most  dangerous  to  which  young 
ducks  are  subject.  It  is  seldom  prevalent  except  during 
the  warm  weather,  and  usually  in  young  birds  of  from 
two  to  six  weeks  of  age.  The  livers  of  the  young  birds 
enlarge  to  such  an  extent  as  to  force  up  their  backs, — 
a  deformity  which  will  cling  to  them  through  life.  It  is 
caused  by  a  complete  stagnation  of  the  digestive  organs, 
and  often  makes  its  appearance  after  a  heavy  rain,  or  long 
wet  spell,  when  the  yards  are  invariably  wet,  sloppy  and 
offensive.  The  young  birds  will,  while  in  constant  con- 
tact with  this  mud,  absorb  more  or  less  of  it,  clogging 
the  digestive  organs,  and  deranging  their  appetites.  Re- 
move the  birds  to  some  dry,  shady  place,  feed  sparingly, 
and  give  a  little  of  the  "Douglas  mixture"  in  the  drinking 
water. 

Ducklings  must  be  Carefully  Yarded  While  Young. 

A  great  mortality  often  occurs  to  young  ducklings 
when  allowed  free  range  during  warm  weather,  from  de- 
vouring injurious  insects.  Bees,  wasps,  hornets,  bugs  of 
all  descriptions,  are  eagerly  swallowed  alive  but  not  al- 
ways with  impunity,  and  the  birds  often  pay  the  penalty 
with  their  lives.  Always  confine  them,  even  when  de- 
signed for  breeding  purposes,  until  they  are  six  weeks 
old,  when  they  can  be  allowed  their  liberty. 


121 

The  most  of  the  diseases  to  which  ducks  and  fowls 
are  subject  can  usually  be  traced  to  some  infraction  of 
conditions,  and  of  course  are  always  more  or  less  under 
the  control  of  the  careful  operator.  Two  young  men 
called  here  a  short  time  ago  wishing  to  know  what  was 
the  trouble  with  their  fowls.  Hitherto  they  had  occupied 
a  cold  building,  so  open  that  the  snow  sifted  through  on 
them,  and  they  had  never  to  their  recollection  had  a  di- 
seased fowl.  Within  a  year  they  had  put  up  a  nice,  warm 
building  with  a  glass  front,  and  their  fowls  had  been 
diseased  ever  since.  They  had  shut  their  birds  in  a  build- 
ing that  would  run  up  to  100  degrees  during  the  day  and 
that  would  go  down  nearly  to  zero  at  night,  subjecting 
their  fowls  to  thermal  changes,  under  which  neither  ani- 
mal or  vegetable  life  could  possibly  live,  and  then  expect 
them  to  thrive. 

The  amateur  poulterer  should  understand  in  the  begin- 
ning that  it  is  far  easier  to  anticipate  disease  in  poultry 
than  to  cure  it.  Where  fowls  are  kept  in  large  numbers, 
their  health  and  well-being  can  only  be  insured  by  ex- 
treme care  and  cleanliness,  together  with  a  free  use  of 
disinfectants.  Buildings  should  be  kept  dry,  clean  and 
sweet,  and  not  too  warm.  The  greater  the  variety  of 
food  the  better,  so  long  as  it  is  healthy  and  nutritious; 
while  gravel,  sand,  shell  and  granulated  charcoal  should 
be  kept  by  them  during  confinement  in  winter. 

I  am  often  asked  by  parties,  "Why  do  so  many  would- 
be  poulterers  fail  if  it  is  a  legitimate  business  and  fairly 
profitable?"  I  reply,  I  am  not  prepared  to  concede  the 
point  that  the  proportional  number  of  failures  in  the 
poultry  business  is  greater  than  among  other  vocations 
in  life.  Hundreds  of  men  fail  every  year  in  mercantile, 
manufacturing  and  brokerage  pursuits.  People  do  not 
decry  any  legitimate  business  from  this  cause,  because 
they  know  there  are  hundreds  who  are  not  only  getting 


a  livelihood,  but  are  amassing  fortunes  at  them.  There 
are  hundreds,  yes  thousands,  of  farms  on  the  market  in 
New  England  today,  for  less  than  the  value  of  the  build- 
ings, because  their  owners  have  made  failures  of  them. 
Do  men  denounce  agriculture?  No!  Because  they  know 
that  from  time  immemorial  men  have  not  only  secured 
an  honest  living,  but  have  gained  a  competence  from 
tilling  the  soil.  You  simply  say  that  it  is  the  men.  Why 
not  be  equally  frank  with  the  poultry  business? 

They  say  the  whole  thing  is  contrary  to  nature,  and 
you  can't  improve  upon  nature.  Can't  we?  That  is  just 
what  man  is  placed  upon  this  sublunary  sphere  for,  and 
he  must  begin  by  improving  himself.  With  the  present 
opportunities  for  obtaining  information,  no  one  has  a 
right  to  remain  ignorant  because  he  begins  by  making  a 
failure  of  himself;  and  when  a  man  has  failed  in  the 
poultry  business  or  elsewhere,  it  is  simply  want  of  that 
indomitable  pluck,  energy,  and  perseverence,  which  are 
the  requisites  of  success  everywhere,  coupled  with  a  dis- 
inclination to  sacrifice  his  comfort  and  ease,  or  conform 
his  life  to  his  business  requirements. 

Again,  we  hear  that  artificially  grown  fowls  are 
stunted  and  small,  the  flesh  tasteless  and  insipid,  and 
many  other  things  which  have  no  shadow  of  truth  in 
them.  I  append  the  testimonials  of  some  of  the  largest 
poultry  dealers  both  in  Boston  and  New  York  cities, 
who  cheerfully  and  voluntarily  testify  to  the  superiority 
of  our  artificially-grown  birds.  These  firms  are  square 
and  honest  dealers,  and  we  heartily  recommend  them  to 
any  who  stand  in  need  of  their  services. 

I  have  endeavored  in  this  little  book  to  impart  what 
little  knowledge  I  possess  on  this  important  subject  to  the 
reader.  If  he  can  learn  wisdom  by  my  experience  and 
avoid  the  errors  into  which  I  fell,  it  is  all  I  ask.  The 
business,  as  I  have  learned  its  details,  has  become  more 


123 


profitable  each  year;  while  the  experience  of  the  past 
season  has  been  highly  satisfactory,  as  the  demand  has 
been  greater  than  ever  before. 


FORMULAS  FOR  FEEDING   DUCKS. 


For  Breeding  Birds. 

(Old  and  young,  during  the  Fall.) 
We  turn  them  out  to  pasture,  when  we  can,  in  lots  of 
200. 

Feed  three  parts  wheat-bran;  one  part  low  grade  flour; 
one  part  corn  meal;  five  per  cent,  of  beef-scrap;  three 
per  cent,  of  grit,  and  all  the  green  feed  they  will  eat,  in 
the  shape  of  corn-fodder,  cut  fine,  clover  or  oat-fodder. 
Feed  this  mixture  twice  a  day,  all  they  will  eat. 

For  Laying  Birds. 

Equal  parts  of  wheat-bran  and  corn  meal;  ten  per  cent, 
beef-scrap;  twenty  percent,  of  low  grade  flour;  ten  per 
cent,  of  boiled  turnips  or  potatoes;  fifteen  per  cent,  of 
clover-rowen,  green  rye  or  refuse  cabbage,  chopped 
fine;  three  per  cent,  of  grit.  Feed  twice  a  day,  all  they 
will  eat,  with  a  lunch  of  corn  and  oats  at  noon.  Keep  grit 
and  ground  oyster  shells  constantly  by  them.  We  never 
cook  the  food  for  our  ducks,  but  mix  it  with  cold  water- 

For  Feeding  at  Different  Stages  of  Growth. 

The  first  four  days,  feed  four  parts  wheat-bran;  one 
part  corn-meal;  one  part  low  grade  flour;  five  per  cent, 
fine  grit.  Feed  four  times  a  day,  what  they  will  eat 
clean. 

When  from  four  days  to  four  weeks  old,  feed  four 
parts  wheat-bran ;  one  part  corn-meal ;  one  part  low- 
grade  flour;  three  per  cent,  fine  grit;  five  per  cent,  of  fine 
ground  beef-scrap,  soaked.  Finely  cut  green  clover,  rye 
or  cabbage.  Feed  four  times  a  day. 

124 


125 

When  from  four  to  eight  weeks  old,  feed  three  parts 
wheat-bran ;  one  part  corn-meal ;  one  part  low-grade 
flour  ;  five  per  cent,  of  fine  grit ;  five  per  cent,  of  beef- 
scrap.  Mix  in  green  food.  One  per  cent,  fine  oyster 
shells.  Feed  four  times  a  day. 

When  from  six  to  eight  weeks  old,  feed  equal  parts 
corn-meal;  wheat-bran  and  fifteen  per  cent,  low  grade 
flour;  ten  per  cent,  of  beef-scrap;  ten  per  cent,  of  green 
food;  three  per  cent,  of  grit.  Feed  three  times  a  day. 

When  from  eight  to  ten  weeks  old,  feed  one  half  corn- 
meal;  equal  parts  of  wheat-bran  and  low  grade  flour; 
ten  per  cenf.  of  beef-scrap ;  three  per  cent,  of  grit.  Oyster 
shells  and  less  green  food.  Feed  three  times  a  day. 
They  should  now  be  ready  for  market. 

Note. — The  above  ingredients  should  be  made  into  a 
mash,  and  should  be  crumbly,  not  pasty.  Proportions  by 
measure,  not  weight. 


QUESTION  BUREAU. 


QUESTION  i. — Why  do  my  ducks  not  lay?  I  feed  them 
all  the  corn  they  will  eat. 

ANSWER. — Ducks  will  not  lay  on  hard  grain  alone. 
They  should  have  a  mash  composed  of  equal  parts  wheat- 
bran,  corn-meal,  and  twenty  per  cent,  low  grade  flour, 
with  about  one-quarter  green  food  and  vegetables;  ten 
per  cent,  of  beef-scrap,  with  grit  and  oyster  shells. 

QUESTION  2. — My  ducklings  are  weak  in  the  legs,  can- 
not stand,  and  soon  die.  What  is  the  matter? 

ANSWER. — Your  trouble  is  too  highly  concentrated 
food  and  too  much  of  it.  Feed  on  mash  composed  largely 
of  wheat-bran,  low-grade  flour  and  about  fifteen  per 
cent,  of  corn-meal.  Mix  in  plenty  of  green  food,  as  green 
rye,  clover,  corn-fodder,  etc.  Ten  per  cent,  of  ground 
beef-scrap,  or  other  animal  food ;  five  per  cent,  of  coarse 
sand.  This  diet  is  absolutely  necessary  to  properly  de- 
velop the  bird  and  form  flesh,  bone  and  feathers.  Feed 
sparingly.  This  is  essential,  as  it  invites  exercise,  which 
is  much  needed  during  close  confinement  in  inclement 
weather. 

QUESTION  3. — My  ducklings  are  troubled  with  sore 
eyes  and  do  not  seem  to  thrive,  what  can  I  do  for  them? 

ANSWER. — This  disease  savors  of  filthy  quarters,  and 
yet  it  is  not  always  attributed  to  that.  Improper  assimila- 
tion of  food  through  want  of  grit  and  other  ingredients 
will  have  a  tendency  in  the  same  direction.  A  gummy 
secretion  exudes  from  the  eyes,  hardening  up  among  the 
feathers  around  them,  seriously  retarding  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  bird.  Feed  sparingly  of  light 
food  with  plenty  of  grit,  and  sprinkle  a  little  ginger  in 


127 

their  food.  Remove  the  bird  to  clean  quarters  and  a 
few  days  will  usually  effect  a  cure. 

QUESTION  4. — I  am  losing  my  ducklings  from  diar- 
rhoea. Have  but  twenty  left  out  of  eighty,  and  they  are 
not  ten  days  old.  Please  counsel  me? 

ANSWER. — This  disease  may  have  several  causes, 
though  I  am  convinced  that  the  food  has  but  little  to  do 
with  it.  It  may  originate  through  the  degenerate  con- 
dition of  the  parent  bird,  and  consequent  want  of  vitality 
in  the  egg  from  which  the  little  bird  comes  out  in  no 
shape  to  live;  or  from  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  to 
which  the  eggs  have  been  subjected  during  the  process 
of  incubation;  or  from  the  same  cause  after  the  little 
duckling  has  been  placed  in  the  brooder.  I  am  convinced 
that  with  a  careful  selection  of  the  proper  ingredients  in 
feeding  the  old  bird,  and  a  reasonable  control  of  the 
heat  in  the  incubator  and  brooder  (if  they  are  good  ones), 
there  need  be  but  little  apprehension  from  this  disease. 

QUESTION  5. — My  breeding  birds  have  the  gapes. 
They  stretch  their  necks  and  gape,  eat  nothing,  and  die 
in  a  few  days.  Can  you  diagnose  the  case  and  help  me? 

ANSWER. — This  is  undoubtedly  a  lung  trouble,  for 
on  dissecting  the  birds,  I  have  always  found  the  lungs 
not  only  highly  inflamed  but  nearly  gone.  For  years  I 
had  supposed  this  disease  incurable,  and  incidental  to 
bird  and  clime,  but  later  experience  has  convinced  me 
that  it  is  not  only  largely  under  control  but  easily  antici- 
pated. First,  I  never  knew  a  case  in  summer  or  early 
spring,  when  the  birds  were  not  confined  to  buildings 
but  had  free  and  open  range,  and  only  when  confined 
during  inclement  weather,  so  that  it  is  more  or  less  a  deni- 
zen of  foul  air  and  filthy  quarters. 

I  would  much  rather  have  my  breeding  houses  freeze 
a  little  than  to  have  them  filled  with  foetid  air,  and  the 
birds  breathe  over  and  over  again  the  ammonia  arising 


128 

from  their  own  excrements.  It  is  one  thing  for  the 
birds  to  be  confined  over  their  own  ordure,  their  nostrils 
but  a  few  inches  from  it,  but  quite  another  with  the  at- 
tendant in  the  walk  with  his  nose  six  feet  away.  He  may 
think  his  buildings  quite  clean  and  free  from  noxious 
gases,  but  could  his  ducks  speak  they  would  tell  him  a 
different  story.  This  disease,  if  taken  in  the  early  stages, 
can  usually  be  cured.  Isolate  the  bird  with  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  trouble,  in  a  warm,  dry  place.  Feed  on 
food  formula  for  little  ducklings.  Mix  a  little  cayenne 
pepper  in  the  food,  a  little  Douglas  Mixture  in  the  drink- 
ing water,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  affected  birds 
may  be  saved.  Keep  your  breeding  birds  dry  and  clean 
when  confined. 

QUESTION  6. — I  turned  my  ducklings  out  in  a  grass 
plot  today  and  have  lost  nearly  one-third  of  them.  What 
is  the  cause? 

ANSWER. — This  may  result  from  two  causes.  Duck- 
lings from  two  to  four  weeks  old  are  ravenous  birds  and 
will  devour  all  manner  of  insects  within  their  reach, 
which  they  do  not  stop  to  kill.  Bees,  wasps,  hornets  and 
beetles  of  all  descriptions  are  acceptable,  and  the  little 
birds,  themselves,  often  pay  the  penalty  with  their  lives. 
Again,  at  that  age,  they  are  extremely  sensitive  to  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  and  they  must  have  shade.  Years  ago, 
we  sometimes  lost  twenty  birds  out  of  a  hundred  in  thirty 
minutes,  before  we  knew  the  cause. 

QUESTION  7. — How  many  birds  should  constitute  a 
breeding-yard  ? 

ANSWER. — Twenty-five  is  enough  unless  the  birds  have 
free  range,  then  fifty  may  run  together  with  safety. 

QUESTION  8. — How  shall  I  proportion  the  sexes  for 
the  best  results? 

ANSWER. — Five  ducks  to  one  drake.  Later  in  the  sea- 
son, six  or  eight  ducks  to  one  drake- 


QUESTION  9. — How  can  I  distinguish  the  sexes? 

ANSWER. — It  is  easy  for  the  expert  to  detect  the  sex  of 
the  bird  when  very  young.  The  drake  has  a  longer  bill, 
neck  and  body,  with  a  more  upright  carriage.  At  two 
months  old  the  duck  may  be  distinguished  by  her  coarse 
quack,  the  drake  by  a  fine,  rasping  noise,  and  later  on 
by  the  curled  feathers  in  his  tail. 

QUESTION  10. — How  soon  will  a  young  duck  begin 
laying? 

ANSWER. — At  about  five  months  old,  often  at  four 
and  a  half  months  old.  At  present,  September  ist,  we 
are  getting  some  three  dozen  eggs  per  day  from  our 
young  birds,  and  we  are  trying  to  hold  them  back  all 
we  can  by  light  feeding. 

QUESTION  n. — Which  will  lay  first,  old  or  young 
birds? 

ANSWER. — Young  birds  will  usually  lay  from  two  to 
three  weeks  before  the  old  ones,  but  as  the  first  eggs  of 
the  old  birds  are  usually  more  fertile  than  eggs  from  the 
young  ones,  there  is  very  little  discrepancy  in  the  result. 

QUESTION  12. — How  many  eggs  will  a  Pekin  duck 
lay  in  a  season? 

ANSWER. — About  one  hundred  and  forty.  Their  fe- 
cundity is  wonderful,  excelling  that  of  any  other  duck. 
We  have  birds  in  some  yards  with  a  record  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  eggs  to  each  bird. 

QUESTION  13. — To  what  age  is  it  profitable  to  keep  a 
duck  ? 

ANSWER. — We  have  kept  them  till  four  years  old  with 
good  results.  If  not  forced  they  may  be  kept  longer  to 
advantage. 

QUESTION  14. — Is  there  a  market  for  their  eggs,  and 
at  what  price? 

ANSWER. — Pekin  duck  eggs  sell  readily  in  market,  as 
they  are  much  larger  than  the  other  duck  eggs.  They  .  ; 


130 

command  from  five  to  ten  cents  per  dozen  more  than 
hen's  eggs. 

QUESTION  15. — How  much  does  it  cost  to  keep  a  duck 
each  season? 

ANSWER. — From  $1.75  to  $2.00.  They  are  gross  feed- 
ers, of  bulky  food,  but  the  greater  number  and  value  of 
the  eggs  in  market  over  the  average  hen,  makes  the  duck 
more  profitable  as  an  egg-producer  than  the  hen. 

QUESTION  16. — At  what  season  are  the  eggs  of  a  duck 
most  fertile? 

ANSWER. — During  the  months  of  February,  March, 
April  and  May,  though  they  are  usually  fertile  with  us 
during  January,  June,  and  even  July. 

QUESTION  17. — What  per  cent,  of  the  eggs  will  usu- 
ally hatch  ? 

ANSWER. — That  depends  entirely  upon  how  the 
mother-bird  is  cared  for  and  fed.  See  formula  for  lay- 
ing birds. 

QUESTION  18. — What  is  the  average  loss  sustained  in 
growing  ducklings  ? 

ANSWER. — Not  more  than  two  per  cent,  with  us,  but 
it  depends  largely  upon  how  the  old  birds  are  fed ;  how 
the  eggs  are  incubated,  and  the  young  birds  cared  for. 

QUESTION  19. — How  many  birds  can  be  safely  kept  in 
one  brooder  and  one  yard? 

ANSWER. — About  one  hundred,  and  as  they  grow 
older,  unless  the  yards  are  of  good  size,  a  less  number 
would  grow  and  fat  better. 

QUESTION  20. — At  what  age  should  the  young  birds 
be  put  upon  the  market? 

ANSWER. — When  the  prices  are  very  high  in  the  early 
spring  we  market  them  at  about  nine  weeks  old,  when 
they  will  dress  from  ten  to  eleven  pounds  per  pair.  Later 
on,  when  prices  are  lower,  we  market  them  at  ten  to 


131 

eleven  weeks  old,  when  they  will  dress  from  twelve  to 
thirteen  pounds  per  pair. 

QUESTION  21. — When  and  how  do  you  select  your 
breeding  birds? 

ANSWER. — As  soon  as  we  can  distinguish  the  quality 
and  merits  of  the  bird,  and  from  our  earliest  hatches,  as 
they  always  develop  into  larger  and  better  birds. 

QUESTION  22. — How  do  you  treat  the  young  birds  lor 
breeding  purposes? 

ANSWER. — Turn  them  out  to  pasture,  and  feed  lightly 
on  food  calculated  to  develop  bone,  muscle  and  feathers. 

QUESTION  23. — What  shall  I  do  to  keep  my  ducks  still 
in  the  night,  when  they  make  a  great  noise  and  commo- 
tion ?  Some  of  them  are  broken  down  and  cannot  stand. 

ANSWER. — Hang  a  lantern  in  their  yard.  You  must 
keep  them  still. 

QUESTION  24. — Can  ducks  be  shipped  safely  any  dis- 
tance ? 

ANSWER. — We  ship  ducks  safely  all  over  the  United 
States,  Canada  and  Europe. 

QUESTION  25. — Would  you  recommend  incubator  or 
hens  for  hatching  duck's  eggs? 

ANSWER. — Incubator,  by  all  means,  if  hatched  in  large 
quantities. 

QUESTION  26. — Would  you  use  brooders,  if  hatched 
under  hens? 

ANSWER. — Brooders  are  better  than  hens,  for  two  rea- 
sons. It  is  less  trouble  to  care  for  them.  Hens  crush 
large  numbers  of  them  when  small. 

QUESTION  27. — How  long  can  the  eggs  be  kept  for 
hatching? 

ANSWER. — They  can  be  kept  three  weeks,  safely,  if 
kept  on  end,  in  a  cool  place,  but  should  prefer  them 
fresher. 


132 

QUESTION  28. — Can  Pekin  ducks  be  crossed  with  other 
breeds  profitably? 

ANSWER. — From  our  experience,  we  can  say  no.  In 
every  case  it  has  required  longer  time  to  mature  the  mon- 
grels, and  as  the  prices  decline  in  the  early  spring,  this 
is  quite  an  item,  besides  the  introduction  of  colored  feath- 
ers injures  the  appearance  of  the  dressed  bird,  as  well 
as  the  quality  of  the  feathers,  which  is  also  quite  an  item. 

QUESTION  20. — What  is  the  price  of  duck's  feathers  in 
the  market? 

ANSWER. — Formerly,  white  duck  feathers  commanded 
fifty  cents  per  pound,  but  since  white  feathers  have  been 
imported  from  Russia  in  such  quantities,  ours  average 
about  forty-five  cents  per  pound. 

QUESTION  30. — What  makes  their  wings  turn  out  from 
their  bodies? 

ANSWER. — This  is  often  caused  by  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  bird.  The  resting  feathers  on  the  sides  under 
the  wings,  do  not  keep  pace  with  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
bird,  and  the  constant  efforts  of  the  bird  to  keep  the 
wings  in  place,  tends  to  turn  the  wings  outward.  We 
have  always  noticed  that  these  are  invariably  the  best 
birds; 

QUESTION  31. — Which  are  the  most  profitable,  ducks 
or  chickens? 

ANSWER. — This  will  depend  upon  whether  the  grower 
is  a  care-taker,  or  whether  he  is  careless,  lazy  or  untidy. 
We  think  that  ducks  will  bear  more  neglect  than  chicks, 
but  it  will  not  do  to  presume  upon  that,  as  ducks  will  not 
thrive  in  filth  more  than  chicks.  We  think  that  the  aver- 
age price  of  chicks  in  market  is  rather  higher  than  that 
of  ducks,  but  as  it  costs  at  least  two  cents  less  per  pound 
to  produce  duck  flesh,  than  that  of  the  chick,  there  is 
verv  little  difference. 


133 

QUESTION  32. — Where  are  the  best  markets  for  ducks  ? 

ANSWER. — Good  markets  may  be  found  in  all  of  our 
large  cities,  though  we  think  New  York  and  Boston  the 
best.  Sometimes,  when  large  shipments  produce  a  glut 
in  the  New  York  markets,  the  surplus  is  shipped  to  Bos- 
ton, where  it  may  be  a  cent  or  two  higher.  Then  in  a 
few  days  things  may  be  reversed  and  the  exodus  be  the 
other  way,  and  as  the  freight  is  only  one-half  cent  per 
pound  between  the  two  cities,  I  have  known  tons  to  be 
shipped  at  a  time. 

QUESTION  33. — What  would  a  plant  cost,  with  a  ca- 
pacity of  5,000  ducklings,  per  year? 

ANSWER. — With  good  machines,  and  buildings  barely 
practical,  $1,500  (if  economically  expended)  would 
cover  cost,  independent  of  land. 

QUESTION  34. — What  effect  does  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold  have  upon  young  ducklings? 

ANSWER. — After  they  are  a  week  old  they  will  stand 
much  more  of  either  than  chicks. 

QUESTION  35. — Is  the  flesh  of  birds  artificially  grown, 
as  good  as  that  grown  in  the  natural  manner? 

ANSWER. — Just  as  good.  The  quality  of  the  flesh  de- 
pends entirely  upon  the  care  and  feed  given  the  birds. 

QUESTION  36. — How  large  should  the  yards  be  in 
which  the  breeding  birds  are  Jcept  ? 

ANSWER. — At  least  one  hundred  feet  long,  where  the 
buildings  are  long,  and  the  width  of  the  pens  in  which 
the  birds  are  housed. 

QUESTION  37. — Do  you  think  it  will  pay  to  grow  celery 
to  flavor  the  flesh  of  the  birds? 

ANSWER. — We  have  never  done  so,  and  parties  who 
have  grown  celery  for  that  purpose,  have  discontinued  it 
as  being  unprofitable  in  the  end,  as  they  were  not  able 
to  obtain  increased  prices  for  their  product. 


134 

QUESTION  38. — What  is  the  best  green  food  for  ducks, 
old  and  young? 

ANSWER. — Green  clover,  green  corn-fodder,  rye,  oats 
and  clover-rowen  cured  nicely,  with  green  rye,  in  winter 
when  ground  is  bare. 

QUESTION  39. — Should  Pekin  duck  eggs  be  pure 
white  ? 

ANSWER. — Yes. 

QUESTION  40. — Should  a  pure  bred  Pekin  have  any 
black  feathers? 

ANSWER. — No.  The  feathers  should  be  a  creamy 
white.  Dark  feathers  are  a  sign  of  mongrel  stock. 

QUESTION  41. — Will  rain  injure  young  ducklings? 

ANSWER. — They  are  as  susceptible  to  rain  as  chicks 
up  to  three  weeks  of  age,  but  after  that,  will  endure  more, 
and  at  eight  or  ten  weeks  old,  will  really  enjoy  a  good 
rain  storm. 

QUESTION  42. — How  large  do  Pekin  ducks  grow? 

ANSWER. — We  have  had  drakes  to  tip  the  scales  at  13 
pounds  each,  though  this  is  somewhat  rare.  The  past 
season,  one  of  our  drakes  weighed  91-2  pounds,  dressed, 
at  10  \veeks  old. 

QUESTION  43. — WThat  is  the  weight  of  Pekin  duck 
eggs? 

ANSWER. — In  the  height  of  the  season,  ours  weigh 
about  3  pounds  to  the  dozen. 

QUESTION  44. — Is  wet,  marshy  land  suitable  for 
ducks  ? 

ANSWER. — Should  prefer  dry  land  contiguous  to  a 
stream  or  pond. 

QUESTION  45. — How  many  duck  eggs  should  be 
placed  under  one  hen? 

ANSWER. — From  nine  to  eleven,  depending  upon  the 
size  of  the  hen. 


135 

QUESTION  46. — How  long  does  it  require  to  incubate 
duck  eggs? 

ANSWER. — Pekin  eggs  twenty-seven  days.  Muscovy 
eggs  thirty-two  days,  same  as  geese. 

QUESTION  47. — Do  Pekin  ducks  sit  well  on  eggs? 

ANSWER. — No.  They  are  unreliable.  Hens  are  bet- 
ter. A  good  incubator  still  better. 

QUESTION  48. — If  you  were  a  young  man,  with  the 
same  experience  you  have  now,  would  you  enter  the  poul- 
try business? 

ANSWER. — I  certainly  would,  for  two  reasons.  First, 
because  it  is  a  congenial  occupation  to  me;  second,  it  is 
by  far  the  most  profitable  of  any  branch  of  farm  indus- 
try. 

QUESTION  49. — Who  is  the  best  commission  dealer  in 
Boston  market  to  whom  I  could  consign  my- product? 

ANSWER. — We  consider  Adams  and  Chapman,  North 
Market  '"St.,  safe  and  reliable,  and  a  first-class  firm  in 
every  respect. 

QUESTION  50. — Who  is  the  best  retail  dealer? 

ANSWER. — We  consider  Nathan  Robbins  Co.,  Quincy 
Market,  as  A-i.  They  have  handled  a  large  part  of  our 
product  for  many  years,  and  we  would  heartily  recom- 
mend them. 


Our  Imperial   Pckfn   Ducks. 


We  run  one  of  the  largest  duck  farms  in  America; 
and  the  birds  in  our  breeding  pens  are  the  very  choicest, 
carefully  selected,  from  the  thousands  we  raise,  and 
are  all  bred  from  our  premium  yards.  We  feel  justly 
proud  of  our  birds;  for  not  only  have  they  won  all 
the  premiums  at  New  England  State  Fairs,  but 
throughout  the  West,  South  and  Canada.  Our  birds 
cannot  be  duplicated  in  North  America.  We  confi- 
dently challenge  competition;  and,  strange  to  say,  the 
birds  in  our  yards  are  now  far  superior  to  our  best  im- 
ported birds.  They  thrive  better  on  our  feed  and  in  our 
climate  than  in  that  in  which  they  originated.  The  Bos- 
ton and  New  York  marketmen  have  repeatedly  assured 
us  that  our  ducks  are  the  best  that  come  into  the  market, 
and  as  a  natural  consequence  we  have  not  been  able  to 
fill  our  orders  for  market  ducks.  Our  birds  have  dressed, 
on  an  average,  the  past  season,  twelve  pounds  per  pair, 
at  nine  and  ten  weeks  old.  We  have  now  2,500  of  these 
mammoth  birds  in  our  breeding  pens,  and  we  are  pre- 
pared to  fill  all  orders  for  both  birds  and  eggs  at  reason- 
able prices. 

Our  young  birds  commence  laying  at  five  months  old, 
lay  through  the  fall  months,  moult  slightly  during  the 
first  of  December,  and  about  the  middle  of  December 
begin  again.  The  average  number  of  eggs  laid  by  our 
ducks  we  find,  after  careful  computation,  to  be  about 
140  each  year — more  than  our  best  hens.  Our  birds  and 


137 

eggs  have  given  universal  satisfaction  wherever  they 
have  gone ;  and  we  have  numerous  letters  from  our  pat- 
rons, expressing  themselves  as  more  than  satisfied  with 
their  bargains. 

Our  prices  range  as  follows : 

Per  pair,   according  to  size  and  quality,   from    .  .    $4.00  to  $6.00 
Per    trio,    according   to   size    and   quality,    from    .  .      6.00  to     9.00 

Exhibition  birds,  each  $5.00,  or   10.00  per  pair 

Eggs  from  our  choice  yards,  per  setting  of  15 2.00 

Eggs  from  our  per    two    settings     ....      3.50 

Eggs  from  our  per    fifty    5.00 

Eggs  from  our  per   hundred    8.00 

Eggs  from  our  per   thousand    70.00 

The  above  prices  may  seem  large  to  some,  but  when  it  is  known 
that  many  of  the  birds  we  now  offer  for  sale  were  worth  June  1st, 
$1.50  each  in  the  market,  and  that  we  have  kept  them  for  the  last 
six  months  at  a  cost  of  not  less  than  fifty  cents  each,  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  the  profits  are  not  large.  Our  maximum  price  for  market 
birds  the  present  season  was  thirty  cents  per  pound ;  the  minimum, 
eighteen  cents. 

Our  ducks  are  all  hatched  and  raised  artificially,  and  are  put 
upon  the  market  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  six  cents  per  pound. 


TESTIMONIALS. 

PEKIN    DUCKS. 

NILES,  Ohio,   Oct.   28,   1905. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN,    South   Easton,   Mass.  : 
Dear  Sir — 

The  ducks  arrived  safely  and  prompt,  and  I  thank  you  very  much 
for  sending  such  fine  large  ducks — why  they  are  more  like  geese  as 
far  as  size.  I  also  thank  you  for  the  prompt  attention  given  my  order. 

The  poor  little  duck  I  kept  of  the  ones  raised  by  me  this  year 
looks  very  small — only  about  one-third  the  size  of  those  received 
from  you,  and  I  thought  her  quite  a  respectable  size  before.  I've  long 
wanted  some  of  your  ducks,  and  I'm  very  much  pleased  with  them. 

Wishing  you  greater  success,   I  remain, 

Respectfully  yours,  CLARA    G.    CARATU. 

R.  F.  D.   1,  Niles,  Ohio. 


RUSLERSTOWN,  Md.,  Sept.  21,  1905. 
MR.     .TAS.     RANKIN,    South   Easton,   Mass.  : 
Dear  Sir — 

I  beg  to  advise  that  the  ducks  have  been  received,  and  with  them 
I  am  very  much  pleased.  Am  building  a  home  for  them  in  accord- 
ance with  your  plans,  and  when  it  is  completed  I  shall  want  more 
ducks.  Yours  very  truly,  H.  D.  OWEN. 


CAMBRIDGE     SPRINGS,    Pa.,    Sept.    18,    1905. 
Dear  Sir — 

Received  the  ducks  all  right.     Am  well  pleased  with   them. 
Yours  truly,  M.    F.    TRAINER. 


MT.     HOLLY,    Sept.    28,    1905. 
Dear  Sir — 

I    received   the   ducks   todav,   and   I   am  well   satisfied   with   them. 
Thanking  you  for   your   promptness,    I    remain 

JEREMIAH     DONOVAN. 
R.  P.  D.  No.  1. 


TRADESMEN'S    NATIONAL    BANK. 
The  United   States  Depository  of  Pittsburgh. 

May  20,  1905. 

MR.     JAMES    RANKIN,    South   Easton,   Mass.  : 
Dear   Sir — 

The  four  (4)  ducks  you  sent  me  arrived  on  the  16th,  and  I  want 
to  thank  you  for  so  promptly  and  satisfactorily  filling  my  order.  I 
am  very  highlv  pleased  with  them.  Sincerely  yours, 

T.    B.    BARNES. 


WHITE     PLAINS,    Md.,    Mar.    27,    1905. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

We  are  pleased  to  say  that  duck  eggs  arrived  safe,  only  four 
broken.  We  tested  them  and  got  96  per  cent,  fertile.  Very  good. 
Thanks  for  promptness.  May  send  for  another  100  soon. 

Yours  very  respectfully,  GOUGH    BROS.    &    CO. 

138 


139 

BALTIMORE,  Md.,  Saturday,  Jan.  1905. 
MR.     RANK  IN  : 

The  duck  arrived  safely   yesterday.      Very   many   thanks.      She   is 
a    lovely    large   bird.  MRS.     E.     C.     ROBINSON. 

"Elgin." 


BROOKLYN,   N.   Y.,   May   3,    1904. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir—- 
The   Pekin    duck    eggs    you    shipped    me    arrived    safely,    not    one 
broken.     Would  have  written  sooner,  but  waited  to  see  result  of  the 
hatch.     I  have  ten  little  beauties.     Should  have  had  thirteen,  but  the 
chicken    crushed    three,    two    were    unfertile.         But    I    am    very    well 
pleased.      Thank   you   for  such   fair  treatment. 
Wishing  you  every  success,  yours  sincerely, 

B.    NICKLAUS. 
Vienna  Ave.   and  Barby  St. 


ARLINGTON    HEIGHTS,  Mass.,  Jan.  17,  1905. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

Received  the  drake  and  ducks  all  right,  and  I  must  in  candor  tell 
you  how  pleased  my  wife  and  daughter  were  with  them.  I  have  two 
ducks  I  was  told  were  your  strain,  but  they  are  eclipsed  by  those  you 
sent  me.  I  hope  later  on,  I  may  send  for  more,  as  I  am  highly  pleased 
with  them. 

Yours  respectfully,  R.    PARK. 


COMMON     PLEAS     COURT, 
10th  District. 

BUCYRUS,   Ohio,   May   7,    1904. 
MR.     .1AMES     RANKIN,    South    Easton,    Mass.: 
Dear   Sir — 

We  received  the  ducks   and   they  are  good  in   every   respect,   and 
beside  Mr.  —  — -.  make  his  look  like  culls.     If  he  sends  the  same 

kind  to  every  person,  he  is  certainly  a  detriment  to  the  business.  He 
excused  himself  by  saying  that  he  was  away  from  home  ;  then  he  re- 
tains incompetent  help.  No  criticism  whatever  can  be  made  of  your 
selection,  and  the  ducks  you  sent  us  are  as  good  as  your  reputa- 
tion, and  the  latter  is  the  best  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

We  shall  probably  want  a  few  show  birds  this  fall,  and  will  write 
you  later.  Yours  truly,  JAMES    C.    TOBIAS. 


OWOSSO,    Mich.,    Oct.    21,    1904. 
JAMES    RANKIN,   So.   Easton,   Mass.  : 
Dear   Sir — 

I  overlooked  writing  you  in  regard  to  the  drakes.  The  first  lot 
arrived  nicely,  except  two.  One  seemed  to  be  quite  badly  lamed,  and 
the  other  a  little.  We  took  them  out  immediately  on  arrival,  and 
the  one  that  was  slightly  lamed  has  come  out  all  right.  The  other 
fellow  died.  Probably  got  hard  usage  somewhere  on  the  road.  The 
lot  right  through  was  a  very  nice  lot. 

The  second  lot  arrived  in  fine  condition,  and  the  two  lots  together 
are  entirely  satisfactory  every  way.  Do  not  see  how  any  one  could 
ask  for  anything  nicer. 

The  hundred  we  had  from  you  last  year  were  equallv  as  good, 
however,  in  fact,  can  see  no  difference.  Either  the  drakes  or  the 
ducks  ought  to  be  satisfactory  to  any  reasonable  person. 

Yours  truly,  E.     F.     DUDLEY. 


140 

GLEN     WILD    P.     O.,    Sullivan    Co.,    1904. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 
Dear   Sir— 

The  trio  of  Pekin  Ducks  arrived  safe  on  Monday,  Oct.  3d.  They 
are  exactlv  as  represented.  I  like  them  very  much.  They  seem  to 
be  very  tame  and  easy  to  get  along  with. 

Very  truly,  (Mrs.)      EDGAR    KETCHAM. 


U.    S.    S.    "Forward,,"  KEY    WEST,  Fla.,  May  23,  1904. 
MR.     J.     RANKIN,    South    Easton,    Mass.  : 
Dear   Sir — 

Sitting  of  eggs  duly  received  last  month.  Got  now  ten  lively 
ducklings,  had  eleven,  but  one  got  killed.  Thanking  you  for  prompt 
attention,  I  remain,  Very  truly  yours, 

GEO.     SCHOPFER. 


HILL     CITY,    South    Dakota,    June    11,    1904. 
MR.    RANKIN  : 

I  received  ducks  O.  K.  My  other  ducks  are  laying  fine.  They 
are  all  fine  ones  ;  although  they  cost  me  $4.92  1-2  apiece  I  would  not 
take  the  money  back  for  them.  G.  W.  WALLACE. 


PORTAGE    LA    PRAIRIE,    Manitoba,    Nov.    3,    1904. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN,  South  Easton,  Mass.  : 
Dear   Sir — 

I  am  very  much  pleased  with  the  ducks  you  sent  me,  they  are 
the  finest  pair  I  ever  saw.  The  people  here  say  they  are  like  geese. 
Thank  you  for  the  splendid  selection  you  made  for  me. 

GEO.    E.    STACEY. 


NORTH    DETROIT,    Mich.,    R.    F.    D.    No.    2,    Jan.    9,    1905. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 

Dear   Sir— 

The  ducks  arrived  safe  Saturday  evening,  Jan.  7,  in  good  condi- 
tion. I  am  very  much  pleased  with  your  selection.  They  are  cer- 
tainly two  fine  birds.  I  remain,  Yours  truly, 

CHAS.     GLARBON. 


MORRIS,    111.,   Jan.   24,    1905. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN : 
Dear   Sir— 

The   ducks   arrived   in   good   condition,    and   they   are   the   largest 
ducks   I   have  ever  seen.     Thank  you  for  your  satisfactory   shipment. 
Yours  truly,  L.    L.    NESS. 


EAST    BERLIN,    Conn.,   March   29,    1905. 
MR.     RANKIN  : 

I  received  the  duck  eggs  this  afternoon  in  fine  order,  and  I  am 
delighted  with  them.  They  are  beautiful  eggs,  and  I  feel  sure  of  a 
good  hatching.  I  only  expected  nine,  as  my  friends  all  told  me  that 
nine  was  a  sitting.  I  am  more  than  pleased  to  receive  15.  I  will 
let  you  know  how  many  birds  I  get  later. 

Yours  with  many  thanks, 

Mrs.     S.     McCRUM. 


HI 

MONROE,    N.   Y.,   June  6,    1904. 
MR.     RANKIN  : 
Dear   Sir — 

Excuse  me  for  not  writing  to  you  sooner.  I  have  been  so  busy 
that  I  have  not  taken  the  time,  but  I  received  the  duck  eggs  in  due 
time,  also  the  little  book,  for  which  I  thank  you  very  much.  Re- 
ceived 15  eggs,  more  than  I  expected  for  a  sitting.  Two  were 
cracked,  as  the  basket  looked  as  if  it  had  been  handled  roughly  by  the 
Express  Co.  Out  of  the  thirteen  (13)  remainder,  were  hatched  eleven 
ducks,  but  the  hen  killed  two  of  them  on  the  nest.  That  left  nine  (9) 
fine  little  ducks,  which  are  all  alive  at  present  and  doing  nicely — the 
largest  I  ever  saw  for  their  age.  They  are  now  but  ten  days  old,  but 
I  would  not  take  five  dollars  for  them,  as  they  look  as  if  they  were 
going  to  make  fine  big  fellows.  I  don't  mind  buying  eggs  from  a  man 
like  you,  as  you  are  sure  to  get  your  money's  worth.  Wishing  you  a 
prosperous  season,  CHAS,  G.  REINHARDT. 


ELWOOD,    Ind.,   Jan.    13,    1905. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 
Dear   Sir— 

The  trio  of  Pekin  ducks  received  in  good  condition.  Am  well 
pleased.  Also  the  book  on  "Duck  Culture"  received  and  read,  which 
was  much  enjoyed.  Learned  many  new  points  in  duck  raising.  Thank- 
ing you,  I  am  Yours  respectfully, 

Mrs.     A.     T.     COX. 


ELKTON,    Md.,    Jan.    9,    1905. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN: 
Dear   Sir- 
Received   ducks    yesterday    in    good    condition,    and    I    am    pleased 
with  them.     Can  you  let  me  have  two  more  ducks  at  same  price  and 
as   nice  as   these?     If  so,   let  me   hear  from  you,   and  oblige, 

Yours  respectfully,  Mrs.    J.    B.    CONNER. 


EAST    BERLIN,   Ct.,    May   4,    1905. 
MR.    RANKIN: 
Dear  Sir — 

I  want  to  tell  you  how  delighted  I  am  with  my  little  ducks.  I 
had  13  out  of  15  eggs.  Only  one  egg  that  was  bad,  as  there  was  one 
duckling  in  the  egg,  but  was  not  strong  enough  to  come  out.  But  1 
am  more  than  pleased  with  my  13.  I  feel  sure  they  will  grow  to  be 
fine,  large  ducks.  Yours  respectfully, 

Mrs.    S.    McCRUM. 


ROCKAWAY.  N.   J.,   Jan.   9,   1905. 
MR.     JAMES    RANKIN: 
Dear  Sir — 

The  two  ducks  and  a  drake  you  shipped  me  arrived  in  good 
condition.  They  are  the  finest  birds  of  their  class  I  ever  saw.  Dif- 
ferent people  who  have  examined  them  say  they  are  the  biggest  and 
best  ducks  they  ever  looked  at.  Yours  respctfully, 

GEORGE     S.     STONE. 
Morris   County. 


142 

LYNBROOK,   Long  Island,   Oct.   16,   1905. 
MR.    J.     RANKIN  : 
Sir— 

The  drake  and  duck  arrived  on  Friday,  P.M.  in  the  very  finest  of 
shape.     Thanking  you  for  the  selection  you  made  for  me,   I   remain. 
Respectfully,  W.    H.    YOUNG. 


30  Bernard  St.,  EAST    ORANGE,  N.  J.,  Oct.   18,  1905. 
JAMES     RANKIN,    Esq.,    South   Easton,    Mass.  : 
Dear  Sir — 

Your  shipment  of  one  duck  and  one  drake  came  to  hand  today, 
and  they  are  a  fine  pair  of  birds.  Thanks  for  your  promptness  in  this 
matter.  Yours  truly,  CHAS.  H.  WARING. 


SUFFOLK,    Va.,    June    2d,    1905. 
MR.     .TAS.     RANKIN,    South    Easton,    Mass.  : 
Dear  Sir — - 

Just  as  the  ducks  came  to  hand  I  was  called  away  from  home, 
hence  the  delay  in  acknowledging  receipt  of  them.  They  arrived 
safe  and  well,  and  it  is  but  due  to  you  to  say,  in  size  and  beauty  they 
exceeded  my  most  sanguine  expectations.  They  are  indeed  handsome 
birds.  Many  persons  who  saw  them  took  them  to  be  geese.  I  thank 
you  for  your  promptness  in  filling  my  order,  etc. 

Yours  truly,  V.    S.    KILBY. 

I.   W.   Morgan,   Sr., 

Sec'y-Treas. 


THE     BOARD     OF     EDUCATION 
of  the  Town  of  Port  Arthur. 

PORT     ARTHUR,     ONT.,    Aug.    30,    1905. 
JAMES    RANKIN,  Esq.,  South  Easton,  Mass.  : 
Dear   Sir — 

The  drake  and  two  ducks  you  shipped  to  me  on  the  26th  inst. 
arrived  this  evening,  and  are  apparently  in  very  good  "trim"  after 
their  four  days'  journey.  They  are  the  finest  looking  ducks  I  ever 
saw  and  I  have  seen  many  thousands.  I  am  more  than  pleased  with 
them.  Thanking  you  for  your  prompt  and  fair  dealing  with  me 
I  am  sincerely  yours,  J.  W.  MORGAN,  Sr.. 

Port  Arthur,  Ont,   Canada. 


COMMISSION    HOUSE    OF    W.    H.    RUDD    &    SON, 

No.  10  Merchants'  Row,  Boston. 

Friend  Rankin — With  the  exception  of  yourself,  we  doubtless 
hatch  and  raise  more  poultry,  by  actual  count,  than  any  one  .on  this 
continent.  We  do  it  entirely  by  artificial  means,  and  shall  never  em- 
ploy any  other  so  'long  as  we  raise  poultry  at  all  and  retain  our  senses. 

At  our  headquarters,  in  Boston,  we  receive  and  handle,  to  say  the 
very  least,  as  many  market  ducks  as  any  firm  in  the  city,  and  unless 
we  are  dull  scholars,  we  ought  to  form  a  pretty  accurate  opinion  of 
the  relative  merits  of  natural  and  artificial  methods  of  incubation  ;  or 
perhaps  better  expressed,  the  comparative  quality  of  poultry  raised 
by  each,  whether  designed  for  market  or  other  purposes.  We  were 
looking  over  our  breeding  stock  the  other  day,  and  certainly  never 
saw  so  handsome  a  lot  for  so  large  numbers,  and  we  should  have  to 
travel  as  far  as  South  Easton  to  find  as  fine  a  flock  of  ducks. 

The  best  market  ducks  that  reach  Boston  (present  company  ex- 
cepted,  of  course),  are  sent  there  by  yourself  and  your  brother,  Wil- 


143 

Ham  Kankin  of  Brockton  ;  not  only  are  they  two  or  three  weeks  in 
advance  of  others,  but  being  grown  with  so  great  rapidity  gives  them 
that  fineness  and  firmness  of  flesh,  a  superior  flavor,  and  excellence  in 
general  appearance  which  cannot  be  found — or  at  least  never  is  found 
- — in  ducks  raised  in  the  natural  way,  and  which  must  necessarily  be 
kept  much  longer  to  attain  the  same  height. 

We  could  refer  you  to  the  proprietors  of  five  of  the  leading  hotels 
in  the  city,  who  state  that  the  artificially-hatched  ducks  furnished  by 
us  during  the  last  few  years  are  by  far  the  best  they  ever  used,  and 
that  since  the  raising  of  ducks  had  thus  been  reduced  to  a  science, 
fully  twice  as  many  as  formerly  are  now  daily  called  for  by  the  guests, 
and  consequently  the  demand  is  correspondingly  increased,  and  we 
predict  it  will  continue  to  increase  indefinitely.  Y«ur  ducks  sell 
quicker  and  bring  more  per  pound  than  any  we  get.  Next  come  those 
raised  and  sent  by  Mr.  Carpenter  and  Mr'.  Otjs,  both,  like  ourselves, 
using  your  machines. 

By  the  way,  we  have  now  secured  Mr.  Otis  for  our  superintend- 
ent at  the  Brighton  farm,  and  his  well-known  skill  and  experience, 
combined  with  our  own,  will  render  it  necessary  for  you  to  keep  your 
eye  peeled  and  look  to  your  laurels,  lest  you  find  yourself  playing  sec- 
ond fiddle.  Fraternally  and  very  truly, 

W.    H.    RUDD    &    SON. 


What  the  Boston  Marketmen  Say  About  Our  Ducks. 


BOSTON,  Aug.  8,  1898. 

Tne  ducks  we  received  from  Maple  Farm  Duck  Yards  «re  the  largest 
and  best  we  find  in  the  market.  NATHAN  BOBBINS  CO. 


HOSTOX,  Aug.  6,  1898. 

We  give  the  preference  to  ducks  shipped  us  from  Maple  Farm  Duck 
Yards  over  all  others,  as  we  consider  them  the  largest  and  fattest  on  the 
market.  We  readily  pay  a  higher  price  for  them.  B.  S.  COLE. 


BOSTON,  Aug.  9,  1898. 

We  have  handled  ducks  from  Mr.  Ranking  duck  yards  for  many 
years,  and  nnd  them  superior  in  size  and  condition  to  all  others,  and 
readily  command  a  higher  price.  NATHAN  A.  FITCH. 


BOSTON,  Aug.  8,  1898. 

We  willingly  pay  a  higher  price  for  ducks  shipped  to  us  from  Maple 
Farm  Duck  Yards,  as  we  consider  them  the  best  on  the  market. 

GEO.  W.  KIMBALL  &  CO. 


BOSTON,  Aug.  5. 1898. 

We  willingly  acknowledge  that  the  ducks  received  from  J.  Rankin's 
duck  yards  not  only  command  the  highest  price,  but  are  largest  and  finest 
that  come  into  Bo'ston  market,  and  handle  no  others  when  we  can  get 
those.  WILLLIAM  H.  JONES  &  CO. 


BOSTON,  Aug.  6,  1898. 

We  certify  that  the  ducks  shipped  us  from  Maple  Farm  Duck  Yards 
are  the  largest  and  best  we  have  handled.    H.  L.  LAWRENCE  &  CO. 


144 

COLUMBIA    STA.,   O.,   Sept.   15,   1897. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir— 

I  received  tne  pair  of  Pekin  Ducks  you  sent  me  in  good  condition. 
People  at  the  station  thought  they  were  geese.  Am  well  pleased  with 
t&em ;  will  write  you  later.  Yours  very  truly, 

THERON    D.    GOODWIN. 


LACEYVILLE,   Pa.,   Sept.    1,   1897. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

The  ducks  arrived  here  safely  Saturday  morning.  I  was  more 
than  pleased  with  them.  I  have  about  one  hundred  ducks  which  I 
thought  were  large  and  were  the  admiration  of  all  who  saw  them, 
but  the  ones  from  you  beat  anything  I  ever  saw.  Quite  a  number 
asked  me  what  I  was  going  to  do  with  the  geese,  and  could  hardly 
believe  they  were  ducks.  When  in  want  of  any  more  ducks  will  send 
direct  to  you. 

Yours  truly,  W.    E.    SHOEMAKER. 


BURLINGTON,     Vt.,    Aug.    24,    1897. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

Drake   came   today,   and   is   very   satisfactory- 

Hastily,  ROBERT     H.     WILSON. 


BAY     CITY,    Mich.,    July    7,    1897. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN: 
Dear  Sir — 

The  eggs  received  in  good  order.  Had  a  nice  hatch  of  ten  strong 
ducks ;  one  dead  in  shell,  have  not  lost  one  of  the  ten ;  am  well 
pleased  and  satisfied.  Truly  yours,  W.  P.  LATLIN. 


ALEXANDRIA,    Va.,    May    27,    1897. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir— 

I  am  so  pleased  with  the  good  hatch  I  had  from  the  two  sittings 
I  bought  of  you  this  spring  I  wanted  to  let  you  know.  From  fifteen 
hen  eggs  I  have  fifteen  nice,  large,  strong  chicks,  and  from  fifteen 
duck  eggs  hatched  ten  lovely  ducklings.  They  are  so  large  they  are 
almost  like  goslings.  Thanking  you  for  your  kindness  and  the  feather, 
I  am,  Very  respectfully,  Mrs.  LENA  CARTER. 


CASAWOOD,   Station  R,  N.  Y.  City,  Jan.   9,   1897. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

The  trio   of  handsome  Pekin   Ducks  you   sent  me.  were   promptly 
received.     They  seemed  to  me  to  be  equal  in  size  and  beauty  to  those 
ducks   which    received   prizes   at    the   late   Poultry    Show     in    Madison 
Square   Garden,    and   I    regret   now   that   I   had   not  entered   them. 
Yours   truly,  GRACE   McVAY. 


145 

NANTUCKET,  Jan.  8,   1897. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

Ducks  received  in  fine  shape.  They  weighed  just  twenty  pounds 
for  the  pair  Uc  day  they  arrived.  A  number  of  people  thought  they 
were  geese.  IMeuse  send  me  your  catalogue  and  oblige, 

Yours  truly,  II.    G.     WORTH. 


ROCKFORD,    111.,   Jan.   1',   1897. 
MR.    JAMES    RANK  IN  : 
Dear  Sir— 

The  drakes  ordered  of  you  a  few  days  ago  arrived  in  fine  shape, 
and   give   periec.    satisfaction    in    every    way. 

lours  respectfully,  J.    A.    BRECKENBR1DGE. 


GEORGETOWN*    Dec.   30,   1890. 
MR.     JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

The  ducks  arrived  safe  and  in  good  condition.  I  am  very  well 
pleased  with  your  selection,  and  to  show  you  I  appreciate  it,  I  add 
my  testimonial.  Respectfully  yours,  LEON  S.  GIFFORD. 


FALL  RIVER,   May   1,   1890. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

For  that  setting  of  duck  eggs  I  received  from  you  April  1st,  I 
want  to  thank  you  now  lor  giving  me  sixteen  eggs  when  I  did  not 
expect  but  twelve.  I  should  have  written  before,  but  I  wanted  to  tell 
you  how  many  I  hatched  out.  They  started  to  hatch  out  two  days 
before  I  looked  for  them,  so  that  now,  May  1st,  I  have  twelve  little 
beauties.  I  am  well  satisfied  with  my  dealings  with  you. 

I  remain  yours  truly,  Mr.s.    F.    E.    PALMER. 


Riverview  Poultry  Yards,  WOODSVILLE,  N.   H.,  Jan.   25,  1896. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir— 

The  ducks  arrived  all  right  this  A.  M.,  and  they  are  beauties.  We 
are   very  much   pleased  with   them  and   thank  you  for   the  selection. 
Yours  respectfully,  S.    S.    EVANS    &    SON. 


POCOMOKE     CITY,    Md.,    Mar.    23,    1896. 
MR.     JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

I  am  much  indebted  to  you  for  the  prompt  and  satisfactory  way 
in  which  you  filled  my  recent  order  for  duck  eggs.  They  arrived 
safe,  and  are  the  largest  duck  eggs  that  I  have  ever  seen.  I  enclose 
here  fifty  cents,  for  which  please  send  me  your  book  on  Duck  Cul- 
ture, Yours  truly,  J.  PHILLIS  CROCKETT. 


SPRINGFIELD,    111.,    Oct.    28,    1896. 
MR.     JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

Ducks  arrived  Monday  evening  (l*0th),  in  good  shape.  Am  well 
satisfied  with  my  bargain.  Also  received  your  book,  "Duck  Culture," 
for  same  I  am  very  thankful. 

Respectfully  yours,  JOHN    H.    ROCKFORD. 


146 

NKW    HAVEN,   Conn.,   April  10,   1890. 
MR.     JAMES     RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir— 

I  received  the  eggs  yesterday,  and  am  more  than  pleased  with 
their  size  and  appearance.  I  also  appreciate  your  method  of  doing 
business.  You  sent  me  forty-five  eggs,  when  I  ordered  three  dozen,  a 
surplus  for  breakage,  etc.,  of  nine  eggs,  five  of  which  were  broken  in 
shipping.  This  alone  shows  your  business  capacity.  Hoping  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  do  more  business  in  the  near  future,  I  remain, 
Yours  very  truly,  J.  J.  TOMKINS. 


STERLING,   LUEDOWN   CO.,   Va.,   Oct.    31,    1890. 
MR.     JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir — 

Ducks  arrived  O.  K.  and  am  very  much  pleased  with  them,  as  is 
everyone  else.  1  shall  let  you  hear  from  me  very  soon  in  regard  to 
incubator.  Yours  truly,  R.  S.  VAN  DEVENTOR. 


HULL,    P.  Q.,  Can.,  Dec.  4,  1896. 
MR.    JAMES    RANKIN: 
Dear  Sir — 

The  trio  of  Imperial  Pekin  Ducks  that  you  sent  me  arrived  Dec. 
2d  at  Ottawa  all  right,  and  I  must  say  they  are  beautiful  birds 
of  large  size.  The  gentleman  in  charge  of  the  Customs  Exam- 
ining Warehouse  at  Ottawa,  says  he  never  saw  one  like  them  be- 
fore. He  took  your  name  and  address.  I  had  a  number  of  visitors 
and  they  all  admired  them.  I  think  I  will  send  for  one  more  drake. 
I  thank  you  for  your  selection. 


NO.     DUXBURY,    Mass.,    April    10,    1897. 
MR.     JAMES    RANKIN  : 
Dear  Sir- 
Inclosed    find    $10.00.      Please    forward    more    Pekin    duck    eggs. 
Yours   are    the   most   fertile   and   produce   the   strongest   ducks    that    1 
ever   saw.      Bill    eggs — A.    M.    Fletcher,    Mansfield,    and   oblige, 

Yours,  A.    M.    FLETCHER. 


INCUBATOR 
AND    ITS    USE, 

By  JAMES  RANKIN 


A  work  compiled  from  over  .°>0  years'  experience  by 
the  author,  telling  the  novice  just  how  to  manage 
his  incubator,  hatch  his  eggs  and  grow  his  chicks 
successful  v. 


PRICE,  BY  MAIL 
25  CENTS 


E  obtain  the  most  of  our  cereals 
™    from  the 


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BOSTON, 


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having  a  first-class  article  on  hand,  at 
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•  V^rortH     Crowing    Over     ~\ 

IS   MICO-SPAR  CUBICAL  GRIT   i 

Mico-Spar  Cubical  Grit  is  a  hard  mineral  product  containing 
sodium,  aluminum,  magnesium,  lime  and  iron,  natural  chemical 
properties  which  every  poultry  raiser  knows  are  necessary  to 
produce  paying  hens. 

Paying  hens  lay  their  share  of  eggs  regularly  and  willingly, 
never  needing  to  be  ''forced"  because  they  are  well  and  strong. 
These  are  the  slow  but  sure  kind,  the  kind  that  helps  raise  the 
mortgage. 


Mico-Spar  Cubical  Grit  produces  this  kind  of  paying  liens  be- 
cause it  makes  and  keeps  hens  healthy.  It  creates  perfect  diges- 
tion because  it  keeps  things  in  the  crop  on  the  move,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  corners  of  the  cube  always  remain  sharp.  Hon- 
est, practical  tests  have  shown  that  Mico  Spar  Cubical  Grit  is 
the  hen's  choice,  and  that  the  minutest  cube  left  in  the  crop  re- 
tains its  sharp  corners. 

Mico-Spar  Cubical  Grit  is  not  a  hen  food  or  powder.  Its  use 
is  to  tone  naturally  the  entire  system.  It  is  an  economical  Grit 
because  it  does  not  crush  in  handling,  because  its  bright  shining 
surface  in  the  scratching  pen  attracts  the  hen,  thereby  prevent- 
ing loss,  and  because  no  oyster  shells  are  needed. 

If  you  are  a  hen  raiser  put  Mico-Spar  Cubical  Grit  on  the  hen 
yard  menu  and  you  will  prove  that  Mico  Spar  Cubical  Grit  is 
worth  crowing  over. 

INTERNATIONAL  MINERAL  CO.   -  -   120  TREMONT  ST.,  BOSTON 


MICA  CRYSTAL  GRIT 

We  buy  this  Grit  by  the  carload  and  find  it  the  best  we  have 
ever  used.  It  is  clean,  sharp  and  economical,  and  we  heartily 
recommend  it  to  all.  JAMES  RANKIN, 

SOUTH  EASTON,  MASS. 


PAROID  ROOFING 


IT  LASTS 


Don't  cover  your  barn  with  a 
mortgage.     Use 

Paroi  d  Roofing 

the  unexcelled  permanent  roofing  for 
buildings  of  all  kinds.  Economical,  dur- 
able and  easy  to  apply.  Any  one  can  put 
it  on  and  it  stays  where  you  put  it.  Com- 
plete roofing  kit  with  each  roll.  Our  book, 
"Building  Economy,"  tells  all  about 


conomy, 

inexpensive  buildings. 


about 
It's  free  to  you. 


J3AROID  contains  no  tar.  It  is  made  of  strong  felt, 
thoroughly  saturated  and  coated.  It  is  proof  against 
climatic  changes — can  be  applied  by  anyone  and  does 
not  requite  painting  when  first  laid.  Paroid,  used  as  a 
siding,  makes  a  neater  job,  keeps  buildings  warmer,  and 
is  less  expensive  than  shingles  and  clapboards. 

MADE  IN  1,  2,  AND  3  PLY 

Put  up  in  rolls  36  inches  wide,  containing  216  and  108 
square  feet.  Complete  kit  for  applying,  inside  of  each 
roll. 

We  have  nearly  one-half  acre  of  roof  covered  with 
Paroid.  It  appears  to  be  elastic  and  very  strong,  and 
unaffected  by  heat  or  cold,  and  we  believe  it  will  be 
very  durable,  and  the  cheapest  thing  on  the  market. 
We  have  one  stable  100  feet  long,  32  feet  wide,  covered 
with  it. 

JAMES  RANKIN 

SOUTH   EASTON,  MASS. 


SEND   FOR   PRICE   LIST 


APR  21 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
PAT.  JAN.  21,  1908 


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